In the Court of the Verdant Hero
by KobeNiku
Summary: Quirks manifest themselves usually at age 4. Sometimes, they appear under extreme duress or strong power of will. Izuku Midoriya suddenly finds out that he is the latter...after getting One for All. And its abilities are confusing to both his friends and himself. How does it work?
1. He Comes

"Why won't you use it? Are you looking down on me, Deku?"

The hot-headed explosive blonde, Bakugou, has had enough of this bullshit this sad cheating insect called Deku had been spouting. Even though he knew that having the speedy Iida would have been the smarter strategy, he really wanted to beat an explanation out of the green-haired wimp ever since he ruined his chance of being the only student from his high school to be admitted into the prestigious UA. Not only did he now have to share it with _him,_ he also found out that he mysteriously had a Quirk out of nowhere.

And not just any Quirk, no, it had to be a _powerful_ one as well.

"I'm not afraid of you anymore, Kacchan!", yelled the weakling.

 _'Oh? So that's how it is',_ his mind growled, _'After all this time, you kept a Quirk a secret to make a fool out of me?! Not only that, you have the gall to_ predict _my moves? Well… he is a creepy stalker nerd with his note-taking and all. Let's see if he can predict what I have in store for him!'_

"I know all about your stalking, Deku!" A smirk grew as he saw the pebble freeze in confusion. Turned out he was not smart enough to see where this was going, it seemed. Time to add in the rest. He raised an arm to point towards Deku, his palm open. Given his explosive Quirk, he was proud of himself for having his thick arm bracers look like grenades.

"My explosions are sparked by the sweat of my palms which is like secreting nitro-glycerine that then detonates."

He readies his finger on the pin that was attached to the back of his arm bracer, his smirk never leaving. "Now, if the specs are as I asked, and I can store that nitro-sweat into this bracer…"

 _"Bakugou, my boy, stop this!",_ came All Might's warning into his wireless communicator. His eyes grew wild, a smirk now a feral grin. _'Come on, Deku, you fuckface! You better show me your Quirk now or you're going to be blown to Hell!'_

He could feel excitement coursing through his veins as he felt his finger applying pressure to the pin. Deku's eyes were now that of terror. _Good._ He should be. Like the Deku he had always been.

 _"Don't do it! You'll kill him!",_ warned All Might again, worry heavy in his tone.

"IF IT DOESN'T HIT HIM, HE WON'T DIE!"

 _BOOM!_

There was silence over the communicator. The large explosion caused by the accumulated sweat being released vaporised a huge chunk of building directly in front of him and the resulting shockwave shattered all the windows in the building the test was conducted and the one next to it as well, the cracks present being a testament to the sheer destructive force that was Bakugou.

For a moment, he almost felt guilty. Guilt at maybe killing Deku by accident but knowing that he had that damn Quirk that he dared to hide replaced that guilt with anger. He kept his arm outstretched while he waited for the dust and smoke to dissipate so that he can follow up his threat with a piece of his mind to break Deku's will utterly. He planned to beat Deku at his full strength.

Then, he saw the signs of the dust and smoke clearing up. He could see the extent of his attack. He cracked his knuckles with a manic grin.

"Use your Quirk, Deku…", he growled. " _I'm going to break you at full strength!"_

He glanced around the destroyed area. No sign of Deku. _Tch._ He must be hiding in the smoke! The coward… "Come at me, bro! You can still fight can ya! You were talking all that good shit a while ago and you fucking judo-slammed me to the floor! So, come on!"

Yet, as the cloud of dust and smoke cleared fully, Izuku Midoriya was not there.

"Huh?!"

Then, without warning, he felt his knees being kicked in from behind with a thud while arms were pulled back strongly and bound tight with some kind of tape.

Tape? _'No… It can't be!"_

"Uraraka! I've captured Kacchan with the capture tape! Hang in there, I'm coming!"

 _'You fucking son of a- DEKU!'_

* * *

The Ground Beta monitoring room was abuzz with chatter. Everyone could not believe their eyes at what they just saw. Even All Might was stunned by this turn of events!

"Whoa, did you see that?!", piped the red-head Kirishima. "One minute he was about to get blown off by Bakugou's explosion and then the next minute, POOF! He shows up behind him and incapacitates him!"

"I know right!", chirped Kaminari. "Man, just how does his Quirk work? Just when we thought it was a strength-enhancement Quirk we find out he can teleport too?! That's awesome!"

"But, sneak attacks don't seem too manly, though…"

"We can't be too sure, the camera might have malfunctioned…", reasoned Tsuyu. As far as she was concerned, it might be a one-off thing because it would not make sense for someone with Izuku's Quirk to suddenly develop teleportation.

Yaoyorozu nodded in agreement. "She's right. We can't be too sure. The explosion might have damaged the camera's ability to broadcast so it could have skipped past the parts where Izuku snuck past him."

All Might, however, had to disagree in silence. Since he was the closest to the monitor screens, he saw the recorded time of the incident as well. Unless Izuku somehow managed to use One for All in his legs and keep them from breaking, there was no way he could have avoided the blast in less than a second.

* * *

Iida turned to the sound of the doors being broken in. He began to break into a cold sweat. Bakugou had been defeated.

 _'Oh no! I mean, curses! Dealing with Uraraka was an easy task but having her reunited with Izuku would this job challenging for me! But! He and I know the rules of this Battle Training exercise, so I can trust him to not punch me into the next century.'_

With that in mind, he let himself be engaged once more into his dastardly villain persona to taunt this new challenger. As a villain should.

"Hah! While you may have bested Bakugou in combat, you are far too late! There is only a minute left on the clock and my incredible speed will without doubt impede your efforts in thwarting my villainous schemes!"

Both Izuku and Uraraka had to curl up and quake as they tried their best not to laugh.

 _'So…so serious!'_

"Hmm? Is my dark aura too much for you? Muahahaha!", Iida inquired while still in character, threatening to crumble what little defences remained of Izuku and Uraraka before the torrent of laughter came through.

A few moments later, they were able to catch their breath, Iida weirdly not doing anything while they were struggling to keep themselves together (his image of a villain was similar to that of a Bond or Dragon Ball villain). Uraraka turned to Izuku, her eyes determined to follow his plan.

"Deku! What do we do now?"

"Rush the bomb on one side and I'll take the other!"

"Got it!", cried Uraraka as she sprinted towards the bomb as fast as her legs could carry. _'He's so smart! If we flank it, it will make Iida's job harder to stop us!'_

However, Iida caught on to this plan. _'Interesting! So, they intend on reaching for the bomb like this? How brilliant! As expected of Midoriya! However, I think he may be underestimating how fast I can intercept them.'_

He glanced both ways. Uraraka was slower than Izuku so first impressions would tell him to go after Izuku first. But, he also knew that Izuku was strong, so he could not risk having Uraraka reach the bomb while he took care of Izuku. Furthermore, Uraraka could make herself float so that made her travel speed faster than on foot. Thus, the best course of action must be to repeat what he did in dealing with the gravity girl: Quickly get the bomb and carry it to the other side of the room.

He revved the engines in his legs and dashed for the bomb, leaving Uraraka in the dust. There were 20 seconds left on the clock, he could make it there in less than two. The bomb was steadily getting within reach. Now, a few more strides and he could-

 _"HERO TEAM WINS!"_

"Eh?", peeped Uraraka in confusion while Iida found himself slamming into the wall in front of him as he too was confused by the announcement.

She towards her left where she saw Izuku running alongside her. He was not there. Then, when she looked at the bomb, she saw him hugging the bomb, his face almost as confused as hers.

 _'…what?'_

* * *

"What was that?!", chimed Kirishima. "Seriously, he did it again! Denki, you saw it too, didn't you!"

"Yeah, dude! That has got to be real! There was no explosion to damage the cameras, so it can't be a glitch!"

Everyone in the monitoring room was flabbergasted. How did Izuku get there in such short notice? Did he teleport? Did he stop time? Did he sprint so fast that not even All Might could track him?

"Sensei! May we ask for permission to rewind the tapes, please?", Yaoyorozu asked with her hand raised. The room was then filled with requests to review the moments of Izuku's supposed teleportation.

All Might conceded. He rewound the footage until it reached the point where Izuku and Uraraka were running for the bomb. To be honest, he was asking the same questions his students were asking when he saw young Midoriya do what he did. He hoped that in doing this, he could find an answer.

The whole class watched the recorded time very closely with the footage.

19 seconds till the training was over

Izuku and Uraraka were halfway there. Iida began his dash.

18 seconds till the training was over

Iida has overtaken both pursuers. Izuku was still running.

17 seconds till the training was over

Izuku was suddenly standing by the bomb, looking panicked upon seeing Iida's fast approach and hugs it. Uraraka was now a few steps closer. Both Iida and Uraraka appear to have jumped a few spaces ahead although they do not notice this.

16 seconds till training was over

All Might finally noticed Izuku's capture of the bomb, announcement was given. Iida got confused and flustered and slams into wall as he tried to brake.

 _'No way…',_ was what on everyone's mind. There was no glitch, no tell-tale ripple that the footage was skipped. The time corresponded correctly with the footage. Izuku Midoriya had seemingly teleported to the bomb. Weirder still, Iida and Uraraka were also teleporting as the footage clearly showed that they somehow skipped a few steps forward but only Izuku appeared to be fully aware of his own teleportation.

Yaoyorozu thought long and hard about what she just saw. It could not have been teleportation because it should not have affected Iida and Uraraka. It could not be time stop either (even though there has not been a recorded instance of such a Quirk, it was a possibility) as both of them would have remained in place instead of suddenly skipping a few tiles of floor.

The footage looked like someone had erased a chunk of the film and reattached it without the chunk, much like how jump-cuts were done many centuries ago when people still used rolls of film.

Did he do this? Could this be another feature of his Quirk that even he himself was not aware of?

* * *

It took Izuku a few moments to realise that it was already over. When he burst through the door where the bomb was held, he was already wracking his mind trying to understand what happened. It did not make sense. He did not have a Quirk; he was Quirkless. The only Quirk he should be having now was One for All.

But yet, when he saw the pin fly off from Kacchan's bracer, the world suddenly came to a halt. He dropped to the ground and began panicking as he thought this was what death looked like. However, intuitively guessing that this odd phenomenon will end in a few more seconds, he sprung up and ran to safety behind Kacchan.

He tried to touch him but to his surprise, his hand went through him! He pulled his back in fear. Was he a ghost? Then, the explosion came, and he could do nothing but look in terror at Kacchan's power.

 _'K-K-K-Kacchan! Are you insane?!',_ he thought. It took him considerable will to avoid voicing it aloud as he did not want him to turn around.

"Use your Quirk, Deku… _I'm going to break you at full strength!"_

His hairs stood on end when he heard that especially considering how close behind him he was. Then, he remembered that he had the capture tape provided for the training exercise. He needed to wait until Kacchan had realised he was not in the blast site. He gulped. It was a nerve-wracking experience for him hearing him spout insults and threats while hoping he does not turn around.

When the smoke and dust cleared up, he wasted no time in securing Kacchan with the tape and head off to help his teammate.

This was when the second time happened.

While he ran for the bomb, the bangs of his hair suddenly came down to cover his eyes and a vision played out in front of him. In the vision, he saw Iida snatch the bomb and move it the other side of the room and the timer ran out. Then, after he brushed the bangs away, he saw that the world had stopped again, leaving him twice as confused.

Nonetheless, it was as good a chance as any and he walked towards the bomb. Like what happened with Kacchan, his hands phased through the bomb like he was not there, leaving him to suspect that he could not interact with anything within the stopped time. Time also appeared to stop whenever he felt like he was in danger or, in this case, determined to win, which meant that it had something to do with his power of will.

Then, when everything began to move again, to his horror, he saw that Iida was charging full steam ahead towards him. Noting that he was now right next to the bomb and hugged as hard as he could, silently grateful that his hands were not phasing through it.

As he hugged the bomb, he contemplated his own Quirklessness. Did the doctors misdiagnose him? Was this another aspect of One of All that he did not know of? Wait, All Might uses One for All and even he cannot do what he did.

"Wow, that was amazing, Deku! How did you do that?!", chirped an excited Uraraka, snapping him out of his internal muttering.

"Indeed, Midoriya! How is it that you have beaten me in speed?", inquired Iida, his villain persona dropped.

He scratched his head and gave a sheepish grin. "W-w-well…thing is… I'm not too sure myself…"

"Could you try doing it again?", asked Uraraka.

That gave Izuku some room for thought. "I don't know… I'll try, though!"

He closed eyes and concentrated, looking deep within himself to find the same sense of determination and urgency that made it happen. Upon opening his eyes, however, nothing changed. But, he did notice that both Uraraka and Iida had their faces contorted with fear.

"Guys? What's the matter? It didn't work so could possibly be the-"

Uraraka gripped his shoulders and spun him around, leaving him speechless at what he was seeing.

There was a floating crimson humanoid figure with a menacing face and a smaller angry face on its forehead. Its eyes were a piercing green and it was covered in a criss-cross pattern all over its body. It had a sturdy musculature and its knuckles were clenched.

The monitoring room also fell silent. His classmates froze either out of horror or bewilderment. All Might's expression grew serious. The figure that emerged out of the young Midoriya appeared to be highly similar to that of a high-profile villain that he heard emerged a century ago.

The villain led an organised crime group consisted entirely of people who had these summoned figures which left the mostly Quirkless population of the region they controlled helpless.

That villain was the mafia Capo, Diavolo.

* * *

 ** _A/N: Yo! So, uh, this is the first time I've attempted a fic that is outside my comfort zone. I thought it weird that King Crimson's Stand user is not featured at all in this website's list of characters for JJBA so I thought, "You know what? Let's give it to Deku!" And... you get this. Let me know what you think!_**

 ** _I don't have any plans to expand any further than this but hey, if people like it enough, I_** _might **make a continuation.**_


	2. A Rude Awakening

The rest of the Battle Training exercise went along normally. Even though the Quirks and performances of some of the students have been outstanding—some highlights being Todoroki's team winning by freezing the entire building and Kyouka and Kaminari's tactics being similar to that of a non-lethal counter-terrorist strategy with Kyouka acting as a scout with her Quirk and Kaminari taking everyone(and his intelligence) out with an indiscriminate burst of electricity—they were all normal when compared to the mystery that was Izuku's new ability.

No one could forget how shocked they all were when they saw the terrifying humanoid phantom that stood behind Izuku. It looked angry and strong yet did nothing to either Izuku, Uraraka or Iida. It was just…there. And it stayed by his side as he left the building alongside his weirded-out friends. Bakugou never saw it; he remained stunned by his capture until All Might came to pick him up. Not a peep came out of him the entire day.

Many theories sprung up amongst the class. Kirishima speculated that it was a manifestation of his innate manliness, Mineta said it was a ghost, Yaoyorozu theorised that it was the physical form of his Quirk while Tsuyu, being as blunt as ever, stated that they never really knew Izuku all that well and that even he does not know it existed until today. Uraraka and Iida sat in their seats motionless. Despite all the commotion, they were made to swear that none of it ever got out of their class by All Might as he told them that this ability of Izuku's was very rare.

What he did not tell them was that such an ability was last seen a few centuries ago and that it belonged to an elusive villain. Shortly after dismissing Class 1-A from Ground Beta, he told the successor to his power to see him in his office after school. There were things that he needed to know.

And thus, the young green-haired teenager found himself in his mentor's office, facing him in his sullen deflated form, and had a dusty book pushed towards him across the table.

Izuku was sweating bullets. Was he in trouble? Was there something sinister about his newfound ability? Was he going to tell him a terrible truth about One for All that he did not know? And if so, what would it be? Also, his new ability apparently a physical form so did that mean he could summon him whenever wanted to if he so wished or-

"Young Midoriya, stop. You're muttering again."

Izuku flustered and clamped his mouth shut with his hands. "I-I'm so sorry! It's just that…what is it that you wanted to tell me?"

The book that was in front of him, while dated and faded, was still legible. It had a plain red hard-cover and the title, " _Mysteries of the Past: Superpowers in a World without Quirks_ ", imprinted in dull gold.

All Might broke the silence with a cough and wiped the blood that seeped out of his mouth. "This, young Midoriya, is a book that records the numerous unexplained supernatural abilities of people throughout history. Of course, as you might have guessed from the title, this was all before the very first appearance of the Quirk in China and the widespread shift of the population from being Quirkless to having Quirks, flipping the notion of what it meant to be a normal human being."

"Eh?! There were superpowered people before then?!", blurted Izuku, his eyes wide in disbelief as he had lived his whole life thinking that everyone was powerless before the advent of Quirks.

"Indeed, young Midoriya, indeed," said All Might while he opened the book to show his protégé the table of contents that listed all of the abilities recorded in the book. The wide-eyed boy found his eyes growing even bigger as he noted some of the abilities listed.

"Near-infinite stamina? High-resistance to extreme cold? Extreme flexibility? _Immunity to electricity?!_ All Might, these people are amazing! Surely, they must've been heroes in their time too!"

The sunken-eyed blonde simply let out a sigh. "No, they were not."

He could feel the "Eh" coming so he opted to continue before he began muttering again. "These people, as amazing their abilities maybe, weren't enough to be considered 'hero-material' as they only extended to what they could to themselves or were too rare. The one who was immune to electricity, for instance, could only do what he did because his skin had no sweat pores which meant they were no bodily fluids that could act as a conductor. This condition he had was a rare disease and he himself was rather frail and could only do it as a form of entertaining visitors."

The young protégé had his mouth in an O-shape as All Might then turned to a chapter labelled simply as, " _Mysterious Phantoms"._ The protégé's mouth closed shut as he turned his attention to a blurry photograph of a tall, muscular teenager appearing to be facing off against a flamboyant muscular blonde man in Cairo. Izuku's focus, however, was on the two blurry entities that stood beside them.

"Sir, aren't these-!"

"Yes, my boy, these are in fact the manifestations of the type of ability that you have now," stated All Might, his blue irises appearing to glow dimly. "However, what makes this type so different from all the others is that there is very little information that exists of it."

The air in the otherwise homely office of the Symbol of Peace grew heavy. "In fact, the photographs you see in this book, are the only ones in existence and the photographer who took these photos could only afford to capture them from afar."

Izuku raised a brow, one part of him wanting to know but another part of him felt…scared. He did not know why but for now, he chalked it up to nerves. "Why is that, All Might?"

"Most of the recorded fights between users of this ability have almost always resulted in one of them dead or dying."

Izuku paled at this revelation. He gulped even when his throat was dry. "W-w-were there any c-c-c-c-collateral?" He hated the term. It dehumanised the deceased and reduced them to a statistic.

"Unfortunately, yes." He then pointed to the snippets of multiple newspaper articles that were part of the documentation of the photograph. Izuku blanched as he read the headlines of each one.

 _ **[DEAD JAPANESE TEENAGER FOUND IN BUILDING WATER TANK WITH HOLE IN STOMACH]**_

 _ **[CAIRO IN SHOCK AS MAD DRIVER RUNS OVER HUNDREDS ON BUSY SIDEWALK]**_

 _ **[CLOCKTOWER IN RUINS: WHAT HAPPENED?]**_

 _ **[CITY COUNCIL BAFFLED WITH SUDDEN WRECKED ROADROLLER ON ROAD, ROAD CLOSED FOR 3 DAYS]**_

Noticing the terror in his student's eyes, All Might lightly put his hand on the young lad's shoulder and gave a reassuring smile. "Worry not, young Midoriya, these were only caused by the blonde in the photograph. He was a villain."

Izuku let out the breath that he held unknowingly as he felt relief wash over him. However, he froze up once more when he heard All Might utter, "Which brings me to your ability, my boy…"

The teen's eyes caught a glimpse of a few of the ability users. He noted that some of the photographs featured sightings of the 'phantoms' in crowds or populated areas, leading him to believe that only users of the 'phantoms' could use them. But why then could everyone else see his? Did it have something to do with the genetic makeup of people with Quirks? Are Quirks an integrated form of these 'phantoms' and why did he have one?

"My boy, look here. You're muttering again," coughed All Might, causing the teen to apologise and scratch his head sheepishly.

His eyes shifted to where All Might was pointing. Then, all of a sudden, he felt a rush of emotions. Shock, fear, elation, _rage._ His mind was beginning to become overwhelmed. What was going on? What he did know was that it happened the moment he saw the picture his mentor was pointing at.

The picture was taken in an undisclosed open grassy plain in Sardinia on the year 2001. In the photograph, by an odd rock formation behind a group of kids playing with a ball, was a slender silver-haired man with his face contorted with shock and pain as an arm appeared to have punched him so hard from behind it impaled him up to the arm's elbow. The arm belonged to the 'phantom' that Izuku now called his and beside it was a man whose expression of anger matched that of the crimson phantom's. He had long pink hair with black spots and had a slender yet bulky build. His choice of fashion was…weird.

"This picture, young Midoriya, was the only photograph taken of the boss of the largest crime organisation in Italy at the time…"

Izuku should feel intrigue. Heck, he should feel a keen sense of interest in knowing this information. Yet, for some strange reason, he felt mad. _Angry._ He never knew the man but somehow felt like he knew him all his life. He tried to shake his head to get rid of these feelings, but they still persisted.

"…it was called Passione. This was the only instance of an ability user that had the most documentation on it as they were provided by the person who succeeded him, who had completely transformed the crime organisation into that of a benevolent, morally-guided mafia."

 _Stop._

"As for the person who controlled this 'phantom' that you have, young Midoriya…"

 _Stop! No one should ever know!_

"His name was…"

Izuku gritted his teeth as he tried to suppress this overwhelming urge to murder the man who gave him a chance at becoming a hero. He could feel his muscles twitch and spasm under the pressure. Tears were beginning to well in the corners of his eyes.

 _'Please, All Might. Stop.'_

"Diavolo."

Izuku then fell to his knees as he clutched his head in pain. All Might shot up and ran to help him.

"Young Midoriya! Are you alright?! Talk to me?!"

The hero-turned-teacher was at a complete loss. His protégé had suddenly dropped to the floor after giving him the truth about the previous user of his 'phantom'. Any discussion of the disturbing possibility of the 'phantom's exact nature of its power had to wait.

Then, after a full minute of pained grunting and rolling on the floor, Izuku slowly got up to his feet. All Might quickly helped him up to his sofa and checked his vitals. Heartbeat, normal. Breathing, laboured but steadily returning to regular pace. The blonde gulped. "My boy, how are you feeling?"

The green-haired teen said nothing, but a weak smile and the opening of eyes was all that All Might needed to know that he was fine. However, he failed to notice the slight increase in the boy's musculature as his arms appeared to be more tone than usual.

"I…I'm fine, All Might," came the weak response from Izuku. The Symbol of Peace, thinking that it meant that he was ready for more discussion, decided to continue.

"Alright, my boy, if you insist. I will take you to Recovery Girl, however, if you have another one of these fits and we can talk some other time."

"No, really, I'm good now. Keep going."

"Right. Where was I…oh, right, the owner of your 'phantom'. He was a villain, young Midoriya, and a cruel one at that. While he never directly caused the deaths of hundreds like the one from the previous photo, he has indirectly ruined the lives of millions and could have single-handedly brought Italy to ruin should his reign lasted longer."

"W-what?!" _Tch._

"But worry not, my boy! An ability, a villain does not make! I'm sure that with your kind heart and strong will to help others in need, you will be able to become a truly great hero! Imagine if I was a villain instead? It would be terrifying to think of the casualties, no?"

"W-wow, you're right, All Might." _This power of mine is that of an emperor!_

Izuku was now feeling his blood chill as he heard the voice loud and clear. It was bad enough that his body felt a bit different already and now he was hearing voices. He was tired from the intense migraine he had and was now contemplating that he was becoming crazy as a side effect of his new ability. His mentor, however, was unaware of his struggle and went on.

"I'm glad you think so too, young Midoriya!", All Might boomed, now in his large hero form. "Which then brings me to the mysterious power your 'phantom' holds, my boy."

" _Stand."_

Izuku was surprised that he said that. It was like his mouth moved on its own. Seeing the raised brow on All Might, he quickly thought of an excuse. "I-I mean, I think it would be easier to call them S-Stands, All Might sir…"

"Hmm…", the hero contemplated, leaving Izuku to quake in silence. But somehow, again, he felt things that did not fit the situation. In this case, he felt a bit cocky like he just dodged a bullet because it was what fate destined it to be.

"That sounds good, my boy! So, your, uh, Stand, young Midoriya, do you know what exactly it does?"

The normally quick-thinking analytical mind of the green-haired protégé ground to a halt. What _does_ it do? He tried thinking of it as stopping time but why would he not be able to interact with anything in the stopped time? The only explanation that he could think of in his inability to do anything but move himself around was that time never stopped in the first place. That meant that the process of time itself was still going on and it explained why he did not fall through the floor when his hands phased through the bomb as his actions were still bound by the area he was in, but the aftermath of an action had not taken place yet.

His mind clicked. There can only be one way to explain this. He almost felt like slapping his forehead at how simple in was.

"You done muttering, my boy?"

Izuku nodded. He took a deep breath, his response clear as day in his mind.

"The ability to skip time." _The power to erase time._

 _'Huh?' Huh?_

He was now sure that there was a voice in his head and it was independent of his own thoughts but were also affecting each other's thought processes. Both he and the voice were confused at the other's answer. Strange things were afoot and Izuku feared that it was only going to get worse for here on out. He was also confused at the odd face All Might was making. "Uh, All Might, sir? Is something wrong?"

All Might had a hand on his head, his large fingers scratching his scalp audibly while having an embarrassed grin. "Well, my boy…while I'm sure that it sounds simple—and it does make sense—how does it, well work?"

Izuku, being the obsessed analytic that he was, felt the urge to go in full detail on how skipping or, as the voice insisted with vigour, _erasing_ time operated and how it was easier to imagine a film reel that has a segment removed and the ends stitched together. But, instinctively knowing his idol would be having an aneurysm with that explanation, he decided that simple was best.

"It just works." _It just works._

 _'Hey, whaddya know? We can come to terms with something after all.'_

For a while, the office was quiet. All Might's blue eyes were looking into the green of young Midoriya's eyes, almost as if pleading for a better answer, begging him to have faith in his intelligence. Izuku, on the other hand, stared blissfully with a smile, thinking that his mentor was finally beginning to understand.

Breaking the silence, All Might sighed, saddened by his student's ignorance of his silent plea. "Alright, I'll take that explanation."

He then checked the clock on the wall of his office and coughed up a spray of blood. It was 6:30pm!

"Oh no! In my enthusiasm in informing you, I have lost track of the time!", he blurted.

Izuku, eyes wide in realisation, quickly got up and panicked, muttering something about needing to hurry and apologise to his mother. He slipped his bag on his back and thanked All Might before reaching for the door. Upon opening it, however, he noted that he felt a bit taller.

"Ah, young Midoriya!", All Might called out just as he stepped out. "Are you planning to give your Stand a name?"

Then, the Pro-Hero froze in place as he saw Izuku's irises become fragmented, his posture slightly slouched and black spots appearing in his mop of green as the teen turned to answer in an uncharacteristically foreign deep voice.

" _King Crimson."_

All Might then suddenly found himself outside his office despite sitting down just after hearing the boy's answer.

* * *

"Izuku! Is everything alright?", Inko called out as she knocked the door to her son's bedroom. She was surprised to see him come home panting heavily and covered in sweat as though he was running away from someone. While he showered and had dinner normally, even having a quick laugh together when they were talking about the costume she made for him, he fell silent when she asked about his class.

His eyes grew wide in horror and he suddenly rushed towards room and locked the door. Inko, worried that something wrong happened at school, decided to come there to check up on him. She still felt guilty for failing to believe in her son's dream to become a hero and she was determined to support him as much as she could. She was not letting him despair again.

"I-I'm okay, mom!", she heard his muffled answer. "I…uh, had a bad headache and needed to lie down really bad."

"Oh…do you need aspirin, Izuku? We have some in the kitchen if you need it."

"N-no need, mom! I just…really need to sleep it off."

Suspecting he was hiding something from her but afraid that it was something that he wanted to deal on his own, she decided to let him be and return to the dining table to clear it up.

Unbeknownst to her, her son was having an intense internal struggle that he was desperate to win.

 _'Who are you?! Stop messing my emotions around! And what have you done with my body?!',_ his mind screamed. After his meeting with All Might, he ran straight home in fear. In fear of himself. He saw and felt his body structure change in a blink of an eye and it terrified him to no end. It was like someone was wearing his body as a suit and he was at the controller's mercy.

 _Hmph. You are not as easily manipulated as Doppio, it seems. You know what, I respect that. It shows that you do have an iron will and have the raw determination to prove it._

 _'What are you talking about?'_

 _I'm saying that you, while having the timidity of a cornered mouse, are strong enough to overcome any obstacle thrown at you. As for your body, I have merely fused a piece of myself with yours._

 _'Why?!',_ Izuku demanded. The voice that he feared was in fact a centuries-old mafia boss had been physically changing his body, much to his horror. To make things worse, it was almost like he had been inside his mind the whole time. The very thought of it felt comforting and the comfort was scary. It was like admitting that this voice had been a separate entity that was a part of him all throughout his life.

 _Impressive! You are smart too! Not only were you able to deduce my King Crimson's power but you have correctly guessed that I have indeed been here for a very long time. The comfort you feel is your subconscious acknowledging my presence, shrimp. As for the fusion, it was partly because I wanted to see if I could take over your body and-_

"What?!"

 _Hey! Keep it down! No one must know of my existence! Anyone who finds out must perish for even knowing who I am!_

Izuku clamped his mouth shut and uttered a soft apology.

 _As I was saying, I wanted to see if I could take over your body and also, I noticed that this power you call a Quirk needs a strong body. And I figured that I could contribute as the benevolent boss of Passione to your aid. Think of it as…I can't believe I'm saying this…gratitude._

 _'Gratitude? For what?'_

The voice, that Izuku could finally call as Diavolo after regaining his mental clarity, seemed to be wincing as he seemed to be reminded of an incredibly traumatising event that shook his very soul. A never-ending cycle of suffering. Which was weird considering that Izuku cannot actually _see_ him.

After a while, Izuku concluded that Diavolo had either disappeared or retreated into the recesses of his mind as he could no longer feel his 'presence'. Remembering what he said about 'fusing', he tried summoning King Crimson. To his surprise, the Stand came out with ease with just a thought. He hypothesised that it was because of the fusion…wait…oh no!

He jumped off his bed, took off his shirt and stood in front of a mirror. Izuku could only watch in awe and disbelief as he saw that he had grown taller by a few inches. It was not enough to match Diavolo's but it was enough to make his clothes feel smaller. His body also became leaner and, most of all, his eyes looked weird. His irises appeared to be fragmented into dots and cracks. His hair, too, got longer and had black spots peppering it all over.

There was certainly a lot for Izuku Midoriya to take in. But he did know this.

If his life was turned upside-down by One for All, this will ensure that life will never be the same again.

* * *

 _ **A/N: Yo! Jeez man, you guys definitely made it clear that you all wanted more. Either that, or this is the first time I wrote for an ongoing popular series. Anyways, thank you so much for the support! Hopefully, it meets your expectations and if it doesn't, don't be shy to leave an honest comment my way.**_


	3. The President whom the Emperor Approved

_Embers floated through the sky as a bright amber glowed beautifully, the gentle cold breeze of the night carrying its warmth. Fractured lenses reflected its light, eliciting a scowl from the lone spectator that stood atop a hill that oversaw it. Just when he thought he had rid himself of his past, fate had come to test him once more._

 _To think that fate would give him such a challenge when it had bestowed upon him a good hand. He had forged the perfect identity that allowed him to keep his past under wraps, was loved by mostly everyone in his small Italian village and found the love of his life. He was as smitten with her as she was with him; he could not have asked for anything better. But, his adoptive father just had to unearth the ground beneath the garage…_

 _And how his father's frantic screams caught the attention of everyone in the vicinity. He had to do it. The police could come and find clues that could lead straight to him. He must wipe the slate clean. His love must be abandoned; it was the greatest mercy he could grant to anyone in his mission to erase all those who have known him._

 _As screams of pain echo through the night, he walked away from the inferno he created that he used to call home. By the crack of dawn, the small village in Sardinia will be nothing but ash._

 _He was sure now; the only way to consolidate his role as the Emperor that controlled fate was to amass power of his own. To do that, he needed money. Fate seemed to smile upon him as an opportunity came to him in the form of a flyer requesting help for an archaeological expedition to Cairo._

 **.**

 **.**

Sheets came flying as a mop of green shot out of bed. Beads of sweat rolled off Izuku's face. What was that dream? Everything in it felt too…real. It was almost like he was watching his own memory play out for him. Except he was sure he did not burn a village to the ground.

Nor was he Italian.

An annoying beep and a ray of light bleeding through his blinds told him that it was high time to get ready for another exciting day of school. Yet, all he could feel was a remorseful weight in his chest. The dream may still be affecting him. With a yawn, he slumped out of bed to check himself in the mirror.

 _'Eyes look normal, height seems to have returned to normal as well'_ , he thought to himself before making a half-frown half-smile. _'Hair's still a bit long, though…the compact musculature remained too…'_

His eyes then widened as though he had just remembered something. He struck a composed pose and made himself look serious. "King Crimson!"

The intimidating angry humanoid phased out of him in an instant, floating by his side, ignoring its user's dinner plate eyes. _'Wow…I really do have it!'_

"Izuku! Breakfast is ready!", his mom called out from downstairs.

"Coming in a bit! I'm getting ready!", replied a flustered Izuku, King Crimson no longer visible. He really needed to get used to this.

* * *

Turned out his new ability and the inner voice that came with it were the least of his worries as a human wall of media reporters have shown up and were currently making entry into U.A difficult for staff and student alike.

"What kind of lessons does All Might teach?", said one as he shoved a microphone into Izuku's face.

"Eh?! Ah…I'm sorry, but I need to get to class now so…"

"Come on, kid! You've got to have something interesting for us! We've got to get our paycheques somehow!"

"Come on, tell us!", chimed another.

"Yeah!", piped one from behind him. And soon, he was beginning to become overwhelmed by the volley of questions hurled his way by the ravenous scoop seekers. He was not alone in this either; everyone from class 1-A were pounced upon on sight. Uraraka was fumbling over the best way to describe All Might. Poor Kacchan had to deal with the many creative ways one could say 'sludge-guy-victim'. Only Iida seemed to do have fared well in this torrent of chaos, managing to even drive some away by doing the exact opposite: Complying.

"What do you think of All Might as a teacher?", asked a female winged reporter sporting traditional tengu clothing, armed with pen and paper and a camera slung by her shoulder. Iida, with a serious glare, snapped towards her with dramatic snappy arms.

"It redoubles my awareness of the fact that I'm enrolled where I can reap the rewards of the pinnacle of hero training. It goes without saying that his authority and mien are awe-inspiring, but so too are qualities such as his sense of humour. Now that we students will be constantly exposed to such an impressive role model, we will be able to study what one needs to possess in order to match the definition of a "top hero" and furthermore—"

"Okay kid, thank you for your cooperation goodbye and see you later!", flustered the reporter and she hurriedly backed away from the still-talking bespectacled boy.

From within the clutches of the journalists, Izuku could only give a wobbly smile as he watched the ordeal of his friends while being prodded by audio-recording devices.

 _'Man, how much longer till I reach the school gates?'_ , sighed his mind. _'This is to be expected, I suppose. All Might being a teacher here and what not. From what I've heard in passing, the media had been camping out here for days now!'_

 _Why don't you find out for yourself?_

 _'Eh?!'_ He clamped his mouth to prevent himself from audibly voicing his mental yelp upon hearing the gruff voice that inhabited his headspace out of the blue.

 _Tch! If it were not for the fact that I have to live with you, I'd be glad that you have forgotten about me._

 _'I'm sorry, Diavolo!'_

 _Ah, it's fine. I forget that you're not Doppio sometimes so that makes us even._

 _'Who is Doppio?',_ inquired Izuku, his head tilting a bit to the side, confusing some of the journalists who thought he did not understand their questions. He then felt slight apprehension coming from the disembodied voice, causing him to inwardly flinch.

 _None of your concern, boy! I'd strike you down where you stand for even knowing my name, let alone my existence! Be glad Fate had decided to test me with this predicament!_

 _'Well, what did you want to talk about then?',_ he asked, trying to ignore his hollow yet genuine threats.

 _My King Crimson has another ability that you can use—_

 _'Eh?!'_

 _Shush! Interrupt me again and I'll possess you!_

A loud gulp was drowned out by the volleys of inquiries thrown by the mass media reporters around him.

 _Good. This second ability, Epitaph, allows its user to see up to 10 seconds into the future. You've used it before, so you should know how to use it._

The surrounding sounds faded away as he sifted through his recent memories for an instance where he had used this specific ability. What was it? The scary, angry, literally two-faced humanoid was King Crimson. The odd time skipping ability was also King Crimson's, so what was Epitaph? Then, it all clicked together.

 _'Was it the visions?'_

 _Precisely. This ability to see into the future, combined with my King Crimson, allows, me, Diavolo, to be the one to alter the course of Fate itself!_

He paused for a moment. Izuku thought back to the time when King Crimson first manifested during the Battle Training trials against Bakugou's team. Since King Crimson's special ability was to skip or 'erase' time, that would mean that the amount of time skipped during his encounter with the explosive blonde must have been short because it was just enough to avoid his arm-bracer cannon. Bakugou did not notice a thing while he assumed it was time stop because of how brief it was. A few milliseconds…That made sense. It was only after the 'visions' appeared in the bangs of his hair that the skipping effect could be felt. Iida, Uraraka-heck-everyone who saw the ongoing trial felt the confusion due to what they all thought was teleportation.

Feeling that the mafia don had nothing more to say to him (presumably to avoid another long-winded ramble), he glanced around. He was still far away from the school gate and there were reporters as far as his eyes could see. Iida must have made it through because he could no longer see him. Man, how lucky.

He then shook his head to let some of his hair down over his eyes.

 _'Hmm? I don't remember my hair being this long…'_ , he wondered. His relatively thick head of hair was now long enough to obscure his vision by a good chunk, allowing him to only see the feet of the people in front of him.

Wanting to get out of this mass of reporters with haste to avoid running the ever-ticking clock out, he internally called out Epitaph. Like a brand-new projector, the images began to emerge almost as soon as he finished summoning the ability.

From the predictive vision that was being played before his eyes, he could see that he was still struggling to get through while his classmates have gotten past the school gates. Then, to his horror, a reporter who was heckling his homeroom teacher, Aizawa, stepped a bit too close towards the gate in her efforts to persuade the scruffy man to look presentable and triggered the activation of a thick metal wall that shut off the school, leaving him to fend for himself.

"Hey, you free to answer some questions on All Might?", shot a reporter from behind him, sending a jolt up Izuku's spine as he felt the reporter's sturdy grip on his shoulder.

 **xx**

 _'Heh, you shouldn't have spaced out, kiddo!',_ smirked the reporter as he firmed his grip on the green-haired student's shoulder. He had got himself an easy catch. Never mind, who was he kidding? Himself? It was hard to get a hold of the brats! They either got away past the gate or were snapped up by rival media journalists and even those kids did not waste a breath getting away. This grass kid who was standing there muttering to himself was a godsend! If he had a lot to say to himself then surely, he would not mind sharing some of that info to him. It's freaking All Might as a teacher, goddammit! Any story about him, no matter how stupid or controversial, will end his days of subsisting off cup ramen!

He shook the kid's shoulder gently a few times after noticing that he was not responding.

"Hey, don't be afraid now! It'll only take a _few_ short questions and you can be on your way to—"

 _SLAM!_

"—it's the good ol' "U.A Barrier"! Well, that's what they—what the hell?!", he blurted. He blinked a few times and shook his head. Have the all the nights he spent camping outside the walls of the prestigious hero academy finally taken their toll on his sanity? He was sure he had just been talking to the green-haired kid a second ago and now he had found himself suddenly in front of the 'U.A Barrier' about to give some exposition on the damn metal gate.

He looked around him; his co-workers and rivals were hailing fits of anger and hurling curses at the school as though nothing had happened. A sickening lump formed in his gut and his face paled. He felt sick. Maybe he needed a break after all…

As he made his way back to his news-van shivering, there stood another person who experienced the same thing he did.

Observing from behind the mob of reporters was a dishevelled white-haired figure. He was waiting for the barrier to inevitably activate as one of the reporters were bound to overstep their boundaries with the school, aware or unaware. It was a crucial part of his plan that he let the reporters trigger the school's first line of defence as his presence was not to be announced yet.

Not yet.

It had to be well-thought out to prevent coming across strong random-encounter foes from interfering or else it would be game over before the he made it to the final boss.

What he did not expect was finding himself standing right behind the crowd of media reporters after rubbing his eyes as he tried to be rid of the dust that found its way into his eyes a few moments earlier.

While he did not see what happened or who did it, he smirked. If this was a Quirk, it was a very interesting one. And if it was a student's Quirk…

They would make a fine addition to his league.

* * *

Aizawa Shouta was a man of reason. Going by the moniker, 'Eraserhead', his Quirk temporarily disables the Quirks of any person in his field of vision. However, it did not work on mutation-type Quirks and he had the misfortune of suffering from dry eye, preventing him from using Quirk for an extended period before having to blink. This meant he had to get creative to fight his battles and, since most fights with villains were potentially fatal to him if he were to go in blind, also had to be quick in Quirk assessment to think of a strategy to work around a villain's Quirk on the fly.

However, things were looking to be rather irrational lately. Izuku Midoriya, the boy who passed with the most Rescue points in the entrance exam, appeared to be unable to properly control his Quirk as it broke his bones to pieces upon use. Thinking it a mercy to expel him to allow the boy time to get used to it, he was pleasantly stunned and amused with the determination that burned in those green eyes as he proved him wrong with a controlled throw of the ball that broke only a finger.

It was an irrationality that annoyed him, but he welcomed anyway. It reminded him of his co-worker, Toshinori, and his idiotic tendency to jump into action without thinking. As much as it irked him, the kid's got the fire and thus he told his students that he was only bluffing when he said that he was going to expel those that placed last in his physical test. If Midoriya failed to show him that intense drive, he really would have gone through with it.

This new irrationality, however, was not. When he snuggled up in his sleeping bag off the side of the classroom, he intended to take a nap while his students squabbled over who got to be class president and class vice-president but what happened earlier today nagged at him. Here he was, being told off from a squawking reporter for his unkempt appearance and then he suddenly found himself halfway across school grounds, walking towards the school. Looking at the doors that led into the school building, his students have already entered with Midoriya being the last to enter.

Thinking back to the marks and evaluation sheets that he got from Toshinori earlier, he noticed that there was a remark on Midoriya's that stated in a straightforward, not-Toshinori-esque manner, [ **Unidentified second Quirk manifested** ].

The exact details of this Quirk were never specified and further notes at the end of the sheet only indicated that it was a possible iteration of a form of pre-Quirk era power called a [ ** _Stand_** ]. It raised his brow, but he decided against bringing it up with Midoriya to avoid causing a ruckus in his class; his students were noisy enough as they were especially after he announced the policy of needing class leadership roles.

Now that he thought about it, the strange happening from this morning could be the work of this 'Stand' mentioned in the evaluation sheet. Worried that it could be as uncontrollable as Midoriya's current Quirk, he might have to arrange a meeting with the boy sometime in the future.

"I got three votes?!"

Midoriya's grating shrill prompted him to shift around his sleeping bag to look at the blackboard.

 _'Ah. They've decided already. That's quick.'_

Standing up and slinking out of the comfort of his sleeping bag, he paced towards his desk and positioned himself next to the newly minted class leaders.

"So, it's President Midoriya and Vice-President Yaoyorozu," he announced.

"Damn things are heating up for Midoriya!", he heard Kirishima shout followed by Kaminari's, "And Yaoyorozu was really cool during the training analysis!"

His ears also picked the jealous stewing of the purple-ball-headed Mineta. Something about how lucky Midoriya was but he was sure it had to do with Yaoyorozu being the VP due to the perverted aura that exuded from the kid.

Not long after, the bell to signal the beginning of lunch break. As his students exited the classroom, he stared at the green-haired teen. He had a feeling whatever this new Quirk was, the boy was bound to go through changes.

For better or worse.

 **xx**

The cafeteria manned by the culinary Hero, Lunch Rush, was alive with the hustle and bustle of the many students of U.A High, consisting of the various departments of study either queueing up in the long yet fast-moving line to receive a delicious meal of their choosing made possible with Lunch Rush's Quirk or walking together with friends to find a table to eat together.

On one such table, sat a friendly trio, having their lunch in bliss and with much to discuss.

"This rice is yummy!", said Uraraka with a smile as she held her bowl of rice in one hand and a pair of chopsticks in another, a small stray grain decorating her lower lip. "We get all kinds here, huh… There's kids from the heroics department, support kids, business kids, general studies kids…all assembled in the same hall…"

"What a sight, is it not?", chimed Iida with his plate curry rice. "To be able to see the various departments that help uphold the current system of heroics of justice in this country, it is like a microcosm of society in the real world. Isn't that right, Midoriya?"

"A-ah! Yes, it is, Iida!", yelped Izuku, seemingly brought out of a daze. He then stared at his lunch with lifeless eyes.

"You all right, Midoriya?", Iida inquired, adjusting his glasses.

Izuku squirmed a little in his seat before looking at him. "Yeah, I'm good. It's just that…I was made class president so suddenly, I'm really not sure I'm up to the task…"

 _'…because I'm not used to finding myself being recognised, let alone voted for…'_ , he mentally added.

Iida stopped eating for a moment and stared into Izuku's eyes, a convictive stare into the windows of his soul with an intensity that might cause him to see two souls when there was one.

"You'll be alright." He scooped a spoonful of curry rice with vigour. "You've got the guts and the judgement when it comes down to it, Midoriya."

He gripped his glass, took a sip of orange juice from the straw, and set the glass down with a light tap before tending to his lunch again. A content sigh escaped his lips.

"I voted for you because I knew you have it in you to carry us through."

 _'So, it was you!',_ screamed Izuku internally. A low amused chuckle echoing in his mind at his mental antics.

 _'What's so funny?',_ he huffed

 _For a mouse, you've already got the personality and skills to get a person of ambition like Iida there to give up his pursuit to support yours._

 _'Hey!'_

 _Give yourself some credit, it's nothing to scoff at! When I first started Passione, it took me considerable effort to gain a member who would swear loyalty to me. It took a lot of convincing that my principles were true and when they came through, Fate kept the ball rolling for me. You, on the other hand, used your annoying timidity to hide the overwhelming determination that you possess to attract people to you. I commend you for that._

 _'I'm just socially anxious, okay! I'm not doing this on purpose, I swear!'_

A loud growl made him yelp in his head, his body shifting ever so slightly in his seat, his lunch half-eaten, his drink half-full.

 _Midoriya. You may have been lucky in coming across the hero who gave you his power, you may have been lucky in knowing that he was also your idol, you may have been lucky in knowing that this powerful man is literally the Symbol of Peace in this eastern land, but your being here, your physique that you built up with fervour to the point of over-exertion and the trust and bonds that you formed with your friends in this clean slate of a school, that was all you, Izuku Midoriya!_

 _Fate, being the cruel determinant force that governs our lives, had given you a bad hand from the very beginning. You were born Quirkless; cursed to be the seen as the weak! The unworthy! The mindless sheep that worship the worthless pawns whom Fate had given them the hand they need to be recognised as part of the eligible majority who dance in the hands of the elite!_

Hands ceased to move, breathing held, face downcast to hide the pools of water that were about to overflow from their ducts.

 _But! But…you, giovanotto, you took this bad hand given to you and saw it not as the way you choose to live, but instead saw it as a great challenge by Fate. A test! And you persevered! You waded through the pain, the suffering you endured as the weak, worthless Quirkless boy you were; Fate rewarded that perseverance in the form of a once-in-a-lifetime chance! Mere mortals would approach not this opportunity for fear of rejection as they realise they do not want it as badly as they thought they did. They were afraid of taking on Fate's challenge, mistaking it as the path it set them on._

 _You proved yourself to be beyond that of mortal men when you grabbed hold of the reward Fate has given to you and in return, Fate got the ball rolling for you like it did with I, Diavolo. So, march on, Izuku Midoriya, march on with confidence, for the achievements you have accomplished until today was all your effort and sheer will to succeed in the trials and tribulations of Fate!_

Diavolo, if he had physical form, would been have kneeling by the young boy with a hand on his shoulder by now. The boy's unconscious perception to the threads of Fate were uncanny, causing the warmth of respect to emanate from his heart though he would never admit it. If only the boy could see the absolute truth in his ways, the reason why the erasure of the past was necessary. For now, the boy needed to recognise his own hand in his own accomplishments.

As cruel as Fate was, it always recognised the efforts of those who accepted its trials.

The silent sobs reverberated through the vessel he resided in, the faint pitter-patter of tears rolling down to cloth. Hmph. What a cry baby. Then again, he was harbouring a lot of pent up emotions for quite a while from what he gathered from prying into his protégé's mind. Wait, protégé? No. He was the one to rule Fate itself with his King Crimson; only the results matter. The boy simply showed himself worthy of controlling his Stand. Just that.

 _Hey, stop crying. You're going to worry your friends._

 _'Sorry…'_ , thought Izuku through a muffled sniffle.

"Midoriya, does the position really bother you that much? You've looking down for a few minutes now and your lunch hasn't been touched since," asked Iida, his seriousness replaced with genuine concern.

Izuku waved it off with a light chuckle. "No, no! I'm okay, Iida! It's just that… I'm grateful that you have that much faith in me and I never had that before."

Iida, then joined by Uraraka who noticed after she finished her rice, placed a gentle hand on the teen's shoulders.

"Mere volition has nothing to do with one's actual suitability," he said with a light smile. "I did nothing more than follow my own judgement on the matter."

"Iida…"

"But didn't you want you want to be class president yourself, Iida?", chimed Uraraka with a cheer. "You've got the look down with the glasses too!"

Iida deadpanned while Izuku stared in shock.

"Uraraka's inadvertently blunt sometimes," thought Izuku.

A momentary pause lingered between them. Then, they giggled. Giggles turned to laughs and they had a good one.

"I have to say, Iida," said Izuku as he wiped his tears in between subsiding chuckles. "You're so proper for a student!"

"Yeah, you're always going on about honour and stuff!", piped Uraraka. "I might be wrong, but are you from an upper-crust family?"

"Upper-crust!?", blurted the two boys.

After yet another shared laugh, Iida went ahead to tell them about his family lineage. Apprehensively, at first.

Izuku could not help but gleam upon hearing the rich history of the Iida family in the field of heroics. When he then revealed that he was the Turbo Hero, Ingenium's younger brother, the nerd switches have been flicked on.

"Your brother's the super-popular hero whose Tokyo office has hired as many as 65 side-kicks?! That Ingenium?!", he squealed.

"You're quite knowledgeable…", acknowledged Iida. "But you are correct! He's my brother!"

Izuku and Uraraka watched in awe and suppressed laughter as they saw the uptight Iida strike a haughty pose with a wide-open smile.

The bespectacled teen then loosened up, let out a breath and adjusted his glasses.

"He's a beloved pro-hero who prizes the rules and guides the people. And I aspire to be a hero like him one day. As such, I think it might be too soon for me to be in a leadership position. For now, Midoriya is the better man and his becoming president is the right choice!"

The two listeners froze in place, stunned by his words and expression. The small grain of rice under Uraraka's lower lip still there. Then, she broke into a wide smile of her own.

"I think that's the first time you've smiled, Iida!", she chirped.

"Eh!?", gaped Iida in shock. "Is that true!? I smile too! All the time!"

Izuku, on the other hand, looked on at his two new friends, smiling.

 _'So, Ingenium is to Iida as All Might is to me!',_ he thought. Diavolo's words then came ringing in his ears. _'Maybe…he's right. This is the fruit of my efforts. A 'reward', as he puts it' for my perseverance in pursuing my dream of being a hero…'_

Suddenly remembering that he now an ability that could see into the future (for up to 10 seconds), he decided he would like to know what would happen after lunch. It was going to end, after all, so might as well, right?

So, while Iida and Uraraka were still discussing over the correct frequency of which the former smiled, he let his bangs cover his eyes and summoned Epitaph.

Light flickered as the vision began to play. As though watching a high-resolution recording of events that are about to happen, he could see with clarity that everyone around him the cafeteria was idly chatting away. Then, a loud shrill blaring was heard, shocking them alert.

 _"SECURITY LEVEL 3 HAS BEEN BREACHED. STUDENTS, PLEASE PROMPTLY EVACUATE,"_ announced the automated PA in a serenity that created a peculiar dissonance with its actual message.

By then, the students have all gotten up and rushing out of the cafeteria, save for their table.

"What's security level 3?", he saw Iida ask which was met with an immediate reply from a senior.

"Come quickly, all of you! It means someone's infiltrated the school grounds! This hasn't happened in three years!"

His vision then came abruptly to a halt, leaving him with a view full of hair.

 _'Ah, the time had run out. Damnit! A bit more and we could have known a bit more about the situation!'_

He checked his watch. In the next few seconds, the order of the cafeteria would crumble. He needed to alert his friends fast.

"Iida, Uraraka! You done with lunch?", he asked with haste.

"Yeah but why?", replied Uraraka, confused.

"We have to get going now. The alarm will go off soon and it will be difficult to leave then."

"What do you mean?", Iida asked, equally confused. Then, much like how Epitaph had shown him in the vision, the alarm siren went off.

"There's no time! We need to go now!", ordered Izuku, growing anxious as he needed to get out of there before while the other students were still in a daze.

Iida and Uraraka, while unsure on what he was on about, nodded with a serious expression before rushing out of the cafeteria with him.

And they made it out just in time as the automated PA began to give its unfittingly calm warning of a level 3 security breach.

"Level 3? Midoriya, do you know what it means?", he asked while running, nearly tripping as they turned a corner into a fully-windowed corridor.

"It means that someone has infiltrated school grounds," Izuku replied in between pants alongside Uraraka. "But we mustn't panic! We need to know the extent of the infiltration and who infiltrated!"

"You mean the press?", Uraraka pointed out a window, stopping to catch her breath.

The two boys then skidded to a halt and turned to where she was pointing. From a distance, they could see the same horde of reporters they had to wade through earlier in the morning currently pestering their homeroom teacher and Present Mic, the pro-hero/radio star.

"It's nothing to worry about! It's just the press!", Iida exclaimed. "We need to tell everyone that everything's okay!"

"Do you hear that ominous rumbling noise?", Uraraka asked.

Izuku and Iida kept quiet and sure enough, they heard the rumbling. And it was coming their way.

"Midoriya, do you think that's—"

"Iida, I think it's exactly what you think it is."

When the shrieks and shouts were heard amidst the rumbling, they knew what was coming; a stampede of terrified students.

Izuku had to think fast. What could he do?! He could try shouting at them…no. His voice was not loud enough. Wait! Diavolo's voice always boomed in his head, maybe he could—no, that's a terrible idea. That would mean letting him possess his body for a while and scaring his friends at the same time. Explaining that away would be difficult. Iida, on the other hand…

"Uraraka!", yelled Izuku.

"Yes?", she shouted back, panic evident in her pale face.

"Make Iida float!", he commanded

"Okay!"

"Wait! Midoriya, why?", Iida asked, Uraraka's hand getting closer to touching him.

"Use your Quirk to get to the vantage point between the pipe and the exit sign above the corridor exit!", he pointed.

Iida took one glance and gave him a thumbs-up. The look in the teen's eye told Izuku that no further instructions needed to be given. He knew what he had to do.

"Be careful!", cried Izuku as Iida began to float.

The first few students have entered the corridor. Stampede impact imminent.

 _'Midoriya! Your line of thinking is exactly one that I knew you would take!',_ thought Iida as he waited until he got the right elevation. _'By gaining the higher ground, it would be easier to draw everyone's line of sight especially if it's above the exit! And since his Quirk would break his bones…'_

The engines in his legs were coming to life, revving up with gusto.

 _'He believed in mine to get the job done!'_

"Engine…Boost!—nuoo!?"

The force of his engines, no longer bound by ground friction and gravity, accelerated him at high speeds spinning towards the end of the corridor.

"Iida!?", blurted Izuku, now sandwiched in between a wall of students as the stampede was in full swing.

Iida, however, tried to remain calm and use his other leg to counteract the spin. It worked but it did nothing to slow him down, causing to slam in an awkward position between the pipe and the exit sign above the corridor exit. Upon impact, he quickly caught hold of the piping and steadied his precarious balance atop the river of students.

 _'The message has to be point-blank and precise!'_

"EVERYBODY, CALM DOWN!", Iida shouted at the top of his lungs.

 _'But more than it needs to be…'_

"IT'S OKAY!"

 _'Audacious!'_

The river's flow was slowing down as many eyes were turned to the voice that spoke above them.

"It's just the press!", he yelled albeit softer now that he got the people's attention. "There's nothing to panic about! It's okay! You're at U.A! Let's conduct ourselves in the manner of those enrolled at the highest academia!"

 **xx**

The police arrived, and the reporters withdrew, restoring order once more at U.A. And with the return of order, came the return of the establishment of the daily school agenda.

"All right, president, start us off," said Vice-President Yaoyorozu, standing beside the class president at the front.

"Uh, let us initiate the ceremony for the new class president!", announced the quaking president.

 _Get it together, boy! You're the don of your own class now, look like it!_

He took a deep breath, closed his eyes and exhaled slowly. When he opened his eyes, they were a vibrant green that matched his gentle smile.

"But before that, I need to say something. I would like all of you to give a round of applause to our good friend, Iida Tenya, for his efforts in unifying the people in times of crisis!"

"What?!", blurted Iida as he began to feel overwhelmed by the cheers and claps all around. "Midoriya! This isn't right, the idea was yours! I only did the right thing to do and that was what you would have done in my position!"

"And that is precisely why I feel that you deserve recognition for your execution of the plan!", beamed Izuku, the words of the mafia don still fresh in his mind. "My plan was simply having you be atop the emergency exit and shout from there but not only did you understand it wordlessly, you also carried it out in a spectacular way I did not foresee! Besides, it was you and Uraraka's trust in me that made it happen so, let's have an applause for Uraraka Ochako as well!"

The brunette flushed red and scratched her head in embarrassment upon receiving the class's gratitude.

"He's got a point! Iida made a great showing back there!", shouted Kirishima.

"He reminded me of that warning sign you see on emergency exits!", chimed Kaminari.

"Whatever, just get on with it already," groaned their homeroom teacher from within his sleeping bag, looking like an angry caterpillar aggressively sipping a Capri-Sun dry.

And with that, Izuku Midoriya was officially installed as the president of class 1-A.

However, as joy resounded from the classroom, worry shrouded those at the front gates.

The indomitable 'U.A Barrier', a metal barrier comprised a series of steel walls several inches thick, was nearly reduced to dust in its entirety. Inspecting the wall were Recovery Girl, Principal Nedzu and two other heroes.

No ordinary reporter could have had the power to do something of this magnitude. The media infiltration was a declaration of sorts. If the perpetrator belonged to an element of evil, this was, without doubt, a declaration to war.

* * *

 _ **A/N: Yo, Kobe here. Thank you guys so much for the ridiculous amount of support you've shown towards this story! Really, I mean it. Now, I initially wanted to the whole 'reply to comments here' bit in most author's notes but I figure it'd be best to answer some of the questions thrown my way.**_

 _ **[Nightshade1712 asks, "Where is this ability from?]**_

 _ **The answer to that question is the wonderful work of art (and memes) that is Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, specifically Part 5. Knowing the ability given to Izuku and knowing who the voice in Izuku's head are essentially Part 5 spoilers in their own right so I apologise if I had unintentionally ruined your day.**_

 _ **[antenesis: Will we see a reference to Giorno or Gold Experience Requiem?]**_

 _ **Seeing as how this particular headcanon of mine places the world of MHA as being centuries in the future, getting a direct physical reference to GER or Giorno may be difficult although he is indirectly referenced in chapter 2 simply as the guy who took over Passione after Diavolo's 'absence'. Of course, again, Part 5 spoilers. Apologies for anyone spoiled.**_

 _ **[TEMMIE: If Deku phases through things, why doesn't he fall through the floor?]**_

 _ **Well, knowing that King Crimson skips/erases time rather than stopping it, it means that time, in essence, is still in motion somewhat, rendering King Crimson to be unable to interact directly with anything because it did not happen. The visions given by Epitaph shows how actions will play out in the near future and nothing, other than King Crimson and its user, will be able to avoid acting out how you behave or act in the near future because that is exactly what you will do. The reason why he phases through things is because that is my interpretation of this whole 'KC can't interact in the skipped time' deal. As for not falling, the ground on which your feet stand on will always remain no matter what thus the result of that, regardless of passage of time, is that your feet are on the ground. Since King Crimson in a shellnut removes the cause and keeps the effect or results of an action, the result is that your feet are on the ground.**_

 _ **tl;dr: It just works.**_


	4. Normal Day

_Scritch, scratch, scritch, scratch, scritch, scratch._

The sound of solid keratin grating on worn-down skin fill the decrepit yet tidy abandoned bar. The white-haired teen, who made up half of the total percentage of people present within, was digging into his neck's thin layer of protection as though wanting to draw blood. The other tenant, a dark amorphous mass of particles in the vague form of a human bartender, betrayed no emotion in watching the teen's habit while wiping a glass clean.

"Feeling nervous?", asked the 'bartender'.

Live sunken eyes looked into a pair of glowing yellow slats, dry lips cracking into a smile.

"No. I'm… _excited._ "

A barely visible brow was raised.

"Oh? And why is that?"

A low chuckle escaped the teen's lips then his sunken eyes grew wide, his red irises like bloody spots.

"Because, Kurogiri, the game is about to begin," he said slyly. "We have finally met the prerequisites needed to take on this quest! We've got the intel, we've got the pawns needed to summon the legendary dungeon boss and, most importantly…"

He took a deep breath and hissed through a toothy grin, picking up a disembodied gloved hand and placing it beside him by the bar counter.

"We have the special weapon we need to defeat him!"

The bartender, Kurogiri, continued wiping the glass he was tending to and formed a knowing expression with closed eyes.

"I see. However, there must be something else that must be on your mind. You've known the plan for a long time now and never in my life have I seen you this enthusiastic about anything other than video games and the time Sensei first suggested the plan to you," he said in a sage manner.

"Because, Kurogiri," the teen replied, his neck craning towards the bartender. "I have a feeling that we might be able to witness a Quirk that I can only describe as a glitch in real life."

"Is that so?", said Kurogiri with a raised brow.

"I don't how, and I don't know who, but on the day of the U.A infiltration, I experienced something that I could only describe as life having an internet problem: lag. Everything was normal then, out of the blue, everything had progressed several seconds in an instant, like lag compensation."

The bartender, whose knowledge in transporting people was vastly greater than that of the gaming terminology that the teen spouted daily, was confused but did not show it.

"I see."

"Right?! Imagine having a person with that Quirk on our side? We'll give our enemies the true feeling of despair upon experiencing first-hand the infuriating phenomenon known as lag but in real life!", he exclaimed, now standing up with open arms. He seemed to be genuine in the prospect of this supposed 'interesting' Quirk.

One question, though.

"How are you sure that it is the work of a student's Quirk?", inquired Kurogiri.

The teen, taken aback, clammed up and sat back down.

"Well, it's a hunch but…we've had intel on the Quirks of the staff of the school and such an event must be that of a Quirk. When I asked Sensei about it, even he seemed intrigued, so it must be interesting!"

Kurogiri sighed and nodded. For someone whose main emotion was angst, this was a refreshing sight once in a while. Still, a Quirk that even got Sensei interested. The white-haired protégé may be immature in decision-making but this one was rather sound. Well, he would cross the bridge when it got to it.

"Well, I take it that you are prepared for today?", he asked.

The teen appeared to sober up and his enthusiasm was replaced with a sullen smirk. He picked up the disembodied hand beside him and used it to cover his face.

"Of course," stated the teen. "I was prepared to kill All Might regardless of plan."

Glancing at the clock, he bided his time until the hour came. The hour when he would rip apart the secure image the Symbol of Peace held. And when that time came, Shigaraki Tomura would be the first to witness it.

* * *

The morning was a peaceful one. Sure, there were three different incidents that morning, but all were taken care of by none other than newly-employed Symbol of Peace on his commute to his workplace. Izuku, too, had a nice start to the day going for him. He woke up early; the Italian man in his head was quiet; his Stand-summon tests were good; his mother was happy; the weather was good; all were smooth sailing for the green-haired teen.

He was glad that things were turning out okay for what seemed to him was a sudden turn of events in his life; having a Quirk, that was not technically one, that was able to skip/erase time plus a secondary ability that allowed him to see a few seconds into the future. That, and finding out an Italian mob boss who has been dead for centuries was living in his head the whole time. He expected some sort of life-changing twist like having his body mutate or being possessed by the man or being forced to hide his abilities, but everything was alright in the end.

Although, the first two did almost happen. His hair was still a bit long.

Nevertheless, taking in things as they come and go was a part of life, so he might as well seize the day while the opportunity to be productive was still present. Thus, when he stood in front of the looming door of class 1-A, he steeled himself to greet his classmates with an energetic vibe as his first act as president.

He gripped the door handle and swung it open, beads of sweat forming on his face as he bid, "Good morning, everyone!", with a smile.

"Hello, Deku!", replied a bubbly voice from the corner of the classroom.

"Hello, Uraraka! Eh?"

He looked around and noted that Uraraka was the only person in class. The urge to curl up was strong. His face was sweating bullets as he tried to think up of ways to initiate small talk.

"W-w-well, you're quite e-e-early, Uraraka!", he stammered.

He felt his body threatening to turn into a ball when he heard her laugh. First day as president and he had succeeded in embarrassing himself. Hurray. Maybe he should have given it to Iida. At least he was fine with dealing with this sort of thing. How did he do it? Oh god, he was not worthy of the title, wasn't he? Man, he was going to disappoint Diavolo like this. Wait, he was a leader, right? What would he do? But wait! He had not seen his leadership in action! What _would_ he do then? Oh no…

 _'Just laugh it off, boy! God…'_ , came a gruff voice in his head, causing him to yelp.

"Deku? You okay?", asked a worried voice.

He turned towards it to find Uraraka looking at him in a puzzled yet concerned way, her head tilted to the side and her brows furrowing lightly.

"O-oh, I'm fine!", he replied an excuse. "Just feeling a bit antsy, you know? Being class president and what not."

"You're just overthinking it, Deku!", she laughed, her brown locks bouncing to the rhythm of her laughter before looking up to him with a serious grin. "I know you can do it, because the 'Deku' I see is one that gives me a 'you-can-do-it' vibe!"

"Uraraka…", Izuku sputtered as his cheeks flushed a bit.

"Good morning, Midoriya, Uraraka,", said croaked a person from behind him, making the greenhead jump.

"Hi, Tsuyu!", cheered Uraraka, followed by Izuku who did the same after sheepishly turning around and apologising to the frog-like girl.

"Just call me Tsu," Tsuyu bluntly stated as she smiled and looked on with her big eyes. She had long green hair with a large bow tied halfway down.

"Okay," replied Izuku and Uraraka. Being surprised at their impeccable timing, they both called out, "Jinx!", got surprised again and laughed, diffusing any worry the class president had earlier.

 **xx**

The rest of the class came trickling in as it got closer to the beginning of the first period. He felt that, as class president, it would be better for him to know his classmates better. So, he greeted and had a small chat with them as they entered the class aside from Bakugou, he knew him for years. But, he greeted him anyway and got a scowl and an insult for his troubles.

He worried that his social ineptness would be hindrance in his efforts but, as it turned out, people were surprisingly nice if you greet them with the best of intentions—except Bakugou, because Bakugou. From there, he got to know his classmates a little bit better and felt more comfortable in calling them his friends.

Kirishima liked manly things; Kaminari, while a bit of a bumbling goof, was well-meaning in nature and was well-versed in quite a few fields, granted they were trendy (he surprised Izuku by replying to his greeting with a lengthy greeting of his own); Mineta was a pervert; Satou was good at cooking by virtue of his Quirk's need of sugar intake; Tooru and Mina were talkative and easily reeled in by the prospect of gossip; his vice-president and Iida, while both differ greatly in character, were serious when given the task.

The last one he got to greet was Kyouka—it was already close to first period when the others came in. Despite his initial apprehension of being given the cold shoulder, she was a pretty relaxed person. He also got to know that she had an affinity for music, specifically rock, when he jokingly said that she was an avid listener of music because of the earphone-jack extensions off her ears.

"Did the ears give it away?", she chuckled.

"A-ah, n-no, I mean, yes, and I thought that…", Izuku stammered.

"Relax, I'm joking too,", she coolly waved it off. "On a serious note, do you like rock?"

"Um…yes?", he answered, unsure of what to say.

"Really now?", she grinned slyly, placing a hand on her chin. "How about I test you for a bit?"

Izuku glanced behind him to check the clock. He had time. He nodded.

"[Rock You like a Hurricane]?", she suddenly fired away, beginning the test.

"Scorpions," he answered in a heartbeat.

"[Welcome to the Jungle]?"

"Guns N' Roses."

"Oh, you're pretty good, Midoriya, pretty good," she smirked, her eyes lighting up.

"Haha…it's nothing really," he sheepishly said. "I just—"

"[Comfortably Numb]?"

"Pink Floyd!"

"Ohoho! You know some of the old stuff too?", mused Kyouka.

At this point, Izuku was looking rather shocked and tried to dissuade Kyouka from continuing but got shot down when she fired another volley of song titles at him.

"[Roundabout]?"

"Yes!"

 _'I've never heard of these songs before, let alone these bands!'_ , he thought, inwardly panicking. _'I only Scorpions and Guns N Roses but that's only because my mom plays them on the radio every now and then! How am I answering these—"_

"[In the Court of the Crimson King]?", shot Kyouka, a fire burning in her eyes, slamming her hands on her desk as she stood up. Izuku had surprised and impressed her in his knowledge but only she and her father knew of this band as far as she was concerned. If he was able to answer this, then he would be—

" _King Crimson!"_

Kyouka's jaw dropped. No way. Her shock was so great that she completely glossed over the fact that Izuku's voice dropped a few octaves in his answer.

"Izuku…"

"Y-yeah…?", trembled the class president. He should have known that the mafia don in his head would the one to know all those songs. He lived centuries ago, damnit! How could he not guess that? Of course, he was going to know his Stand's namesake, that was a given!

"You are now my best friend."

"…eh?", was his answer to the rock lover's declaration.

"It's official," gushed Kyouka, her hand on his shoulder with proud smile. "You are a certified man of culture."

He could only give a shy chuckle as he gulped. He could feel his classmates' stares on his back. No doubt they heard a glimpse of Diavolo's voice earlier. Just as he heard the beginnings of a question form, the bell rang, and Present Mic strode in to give English lessons.

Talk about saved by the bell…

 **xx**

It was 10 to 1 in the afternoon when class 1-A's scruffy, wrapped in cloth homeroom teacher, Aizawa, entered. Fortunately for Izuku, the brute force of back-to-back English and Mathematics classes, both of which were 2 hours long, had sapped the memory of any classmate of his about his abrupt change in his voice. If there were any others that still remembered, they were sure bound to forget with the announcement Aizawa was going to make.

"For the foundational skill of heroics today, it is decided that you will be supervised by a three-man team comprised of me, All-Might and someone else."

All ears were on the Quirk-erasing hero. What sort of activity would require the supervision of three pro-heroes?

Sero shot up and asked the question on everyone's minds. The homeroom teacher said nothing but reach into his pocket to pull out a card that had 'RESCUE' printed on it.

"What you will be doing? Be the hero everyone needs, whether it's a flood or any disaster. It's the Trial of Rescue!", he announced with stern eyes.

As usual, his class went abuzz with chatter. He could pick out Kaminari, Kirishima and Mina from the noise as they were saying some interesting things. Things like how exciting the trial was going to be or how difficult it was going to get. Tsuyu chipped in to highlight her Quirk's suitability in floods. It was nice to hear his students' enthusiasm, but he was a teacher; they need to be remain grounded to the floor to avoid lofty ideals.

"Don't get ahead of yourselves," he stated, bringing order back into the class. "As I was saying, it is up to you whether you want to wear your hero costumes. Some of your costumes are probably not suited to the task, after all. The training area is fairly far so we'll be getting there by bus. That is all."

With that, he left the classroom, expecting to meet up with them in the courtyard in 20 minutes time. Enough time for him to catch a few winks in his sleeping bag.

 _'The Trial of Rescue…',_ thought Izuku, his eyes bright and brows furrowed with anticipation. He grasped onto a metaphorical ball of the dreams before him and held it tight. _'This is training to reach my dream… to become a top hero! I'll do my best!'_

 _Why not just use King Crimson the whole way?_

 _'Eh?'_

Izuku stopped to consider Diavolo's point. He was right; it would be a lot easier for him to just use King Crimson as it was strong, had a broken and confusing ability and allowed him foresight to some extent. But…it just did not feel...right. Like he was cheating or failing to use his potential to the fullest. At the same time, he needed to think up of an answer…

 _Well?_

 _'I think…'_ he replied. _'It'd be better for me to practice using the power All-Might gave me.'_

 _Oh? And why is that?_

 _'You said so yourself, right? That you wanted to remain hidden? What better way of concealing your existence to the world outside of class 1-A than having the perfect smokescreen? That way, I get to train myself to use One for All better and you get to stay out of sight.'_

For a while, his mind was quiet. Then, he heard an impressed low hum followed by a whistle.

 _Impressive, boy, impressive. That was exactly the kind of answer I wanted to hear, and you exceeded my expectations with that implication._

Izuku was puzzled. What?

 _'I don't follow.'_

 _If you use King Crimson less and use One for All more, what do you think is possible?_

"Deku! Come on, we need to get to the bus!", Uraraka called out to him.

"Oh, right! Coming!", he called back, hastily checking his belongings before exiting the class and went for the courtyard. He felt a pit in his stomach. He really needed to stop getting too engrossed in his own inner conversations. His friends might not want to voice out their concerns, but he had already noticed Uraraka's eyes occasionally darting towards him whenever he began muttering.

She must think he was weird. Everyone around him must think he was weird. But, this was what he wanted, right? Was this what he wanted? The neat lines of his students in front of the bus were all smiling at him except Bakugou. He returned the smiles with his own and kindly told them to take their seats despite Iida's insistence on informing seating formations first (then stewing in embarrassment because the seats were off the side rather than the conventional arrangements), but he could not help doubting the happy faces his friends were casting.

"Hey Midoriya, I always say what I think no matter what's on my mind," said a girl beside him.

He snapped out of his inner monologue and turned towards Tsuyu, who he absentmindedly called her Asui with a look of surprise.

"Call me Tsuyu," she bluntly states.

Big eyes stare into his bewildered look, trying to think up an answer but, with an expressionless smile, she shot a question straight at him.

"Your Quirk reminds me of All Might's."

His hairs stood on end, he had no idea how to deal with this situation!

"W-well, t-t-t-that s-s-so!? But mine isn't like…", he squeaked.

"That's not true!", Kirishima interjected. "All Might never gets injured whenever he uses his Quirk and that's where the likeliness ends!"

 _'Kirishima!'_ , thought Izuku.

"And All Might doesn't have a floating angry thing following him around so that makes him unique!"

 _'Kirishima!',_ screamed Izuku's mind.

Iida and Uraraka smile worriedly upon the return of the memory of seeing the Stand.

"Hmph! Your other Quirk isn't special!", chimed the blonde that could shoot lasers from his navel as he whiffed his hair to the side. "It isn't elegant and is brutish, unlike mine that dazzles with beauty!"

"Wouldn't it be bad for your stomach to collapse if you used your Quirk?", teased Mina, causing the boy to clam up and glare at her. Then, he noticed the class president staring him down with furrowed brows. It was as if he was trying to stare into his soul, unnerving him.

And indeed, Izuku was looking at the flamboyant blonde with such intensity. However, it was for a completely different reason.

 _'Who is he again?'_ , he frowned. _'No really, who is he? I know him, but what was his name? I hope someone here mentions his name because it'd be really embarrassing if the class president forgets the names of his fellow classmates!'_

His frown furrowed further upon noticing Bakugou's own incensed glare a little too late.

"Oi, Deku…", growled Bakugou. "What's this talk of a _second_ Quirk?"

Izuku's throat tried to gulp but it was dry. He opened his mouth to stammer an answer but…

"You mean you didn't know?", Kirishima asked the fuming blonde. "He won the trials against your team because of this new Quirk he had!"

" _What?!"_ , Bakugou snapped.

"Yeah! We have no idea how it works, and he can summon this cool, angry-looking dude!", added Kaminari with a grin. "Come to think of it, it looks as angry as you are if not more!"

"Hey! What'd you say about me?", barked Bakugou.

"Jeez, man, chill! It has been but a brief moment in our socialisation and, yet we have made apodictically cognizant of your personality, redolent as it is of a magnificent turd steaming away in a sewer."

Bakugou stood up and gripped the guard rail in front of him, veins visible along his arms as he threw a menacing growl towards Kaminari.

"Huh?! What the hell is that vocabulary? I'll fucking kill you!"

"What do you know? Your attitude stinks and, your intellect is that of an uncivilised savage. Go figure."

" _Oh, I'll show you savage, idiotball!"_

"Ha ha, you're funny, Bakugou!", chuckled Kirishima as he slung a shoulder over him. "Glad to see you and Denki becoming fast friends!"

"Oi!"

Izuku, on the other hand, sighed in relief then watched in awe at the scene unfolding before him. He was glad that Kaminari managed to distract Bakugou off the topic of his Stand, but he would never imagine in his lifetime that he would ever see his childhood friend/bully get teased in such a manner. _'That's U.A for you! I can't believe my eyes!'_

Meanwhile, in the backrow seats of the bus, Uraraka was giggling the entire time while Yaoyorozu frowned at the ongoing verbal assault between Bakugou and Kaminari.

"What a vulgar conversation…" whispered the class VP in disgust.

Uraraka, still giggling with pink cheeks, replied, "But they make me laugh!"

"Alright, settle down," commanded Aizawa tiredly. "We're almost there."

"Yes sir!", shouted the whole bus.

In the midst of the chaos that erupted earlier, the only casualty was the one who sat next to the explosive boy: Kyouka.

May her interrupted nap rest in peace.

Then again, this was the kind of noise that was nice. A tolerable chaos. A part of high-school normalcy. It would be fun to learn the rescuing aspects of heroism and that was indeed why everyone was rowdy.

Would be kind of messed up for the people if they were the ones that needed rescuing…right?


	5. Time Crisis

At this point, Izuku Midoriya, class president of 1-A, heir to One for All, host to a dead Italian don and son of Inko Midoriya truly believed that the world was out to make his life miserable by showing him glimpses of a peaceful life only to yank it away like a cruel animal trainer towards a starving circus lion.

He, along with his classmates, were amazed by the facility that was the USJ or the Unforeseen Simulation Joint (though most would like to believe it was Universal Studios Japan). It was a large dome-shaped disaster-simulation facility divided into eight sections with six representing a type of disaster: earthquakes, landslides, floods, mountain emergencies, typhoons and fires. The central plaza in the middle of the facility acted as a focal point for anyone wanting to access any of the disaster zones while the entrance was stationed on the northern side atop a flight of stairs and a blue gate.

Sure, everyone was all "Amazing!" and the teacher aiding Aizawa in their rescue trial endeavour, the Space Hero: Thirteen, lived up to his title by stating, word-for-word, that this was the 'ultimate space for jams', Izuku had a nagging feeling that something was going to come up but brushed it off as nerves while the astronaut gave a lecture on using quirks responsibly.

It was a nice lecture too; something he could relate to in light of the overwhelming power contained in One for All. However, it also got him thinking of his other Quirk: his Stand. As far as he was concerned, there was no negative repercussion towards civilians in using King Crimson as the only variables manipulated were time and, after much deliberation, the concept of a cause.

While he could not directly interfere with anything in the skipped time, he could avoid an undesirable outcome by removing its [cause]. This was something that kept him awake at night as it was rather difficult to comprehend to more he thought about it. If a gun was fired at a person, and he erases the moment of bullet penetration as it is the cause of death, the effect will be that the bullet would appear goes through and the person lives. But what if it was a slab of rock about to fall on a person? If he removed the cause of death, the person lives. However, since he could not interfere directly, that also meant that he could not move the person either.

Would the person be alive but trapped underneath the rock or would some unseen force fill in the gaps and make it so that the rock falls and the person get away scot-free? Better yet, how does skipping time work? Does it affect the whole universe or doesn't? If yes, why has no one noticed it whenever he uses it and if no, how far is its effective range? These are confusing.

Asking Diavolo proved fruitless as even he did not fully understand how his _own_ Stand functioned in detail. Heck, he went as far as to claim that it was beginning to behave a bit differently in the teen's hands though he could not pinpoint what. In any case, he needed to start thinking on how he could use King Crimson to not only save lives but also compliment One for All if he were to take Thirteen's advice to heart.

And that time to save lives began now.

"Huddle together and don't move!"

Heads were turned towards the class 1-A homeroom teacher in confusion. Their usually stoic teacher was now having wide eyes and his mouth open to yell another order.

"No.13! Protect the students!", ordered Aizawa as he donned his segmented goggles.

Izuku was brought out of his internal mumbling and looked towards where Aizawa was looking at. His blood ran cold and his nerves were shivering.

 _'N-no… No way…!'_

"What is that?!", shouted Kirishima, trying to get a better view. "Is this like the training pattern in the entrance exam?"

 _'T-t-this c-can't be happening!'_

"Don't move!", yelled Aizawa. "Those are villains!"

The green-haired teen's fears were confirmed: the large group of intimidating, weird-looking and maniacal people in the middle of the plaza by the fountain were actual villains. The ones that stood the most to him, however, were the swirling cloud behind down that was materialising into a humanoid shape, the towering dark mass of humanoid muscle with an exposed brain and the menacing scrawny person covered in hands next to it.

A cold lump passed down his throat.

 _'How are we going to deal with this?',_ he thought. _'These are real villains! These are those whom the heroes battle with! Why are they here?'_

He did not need to wait long for an answer as the ominous cloud being spoke soon after.

"…Eraserhead and No.13…", he uttered. "According to the teachers' curriculum we procured yesterday, Mr. All Might was supposed to be here and yet…"

"I knew it…," Aizawa growled. "So yesterday was the doing of you louts…"

 _'What?! So, the ruckus yesterday was a legit infiltration?!',_ Izuku seemed to scream in silence with his eyes wide. _'That meant that the media was a convenient distraction!'_

"Where is he… we went through all this trouble and rustled up so many to bring along…", rasped that hand-covered person, sending chills down Izuku's spine. "You can't tell me All Might, the Symbol of Peace isn't here!"

"I wonder if he'll show up if we kill the kids?", declared the hand-covered ring-leader of the group, portraits of terror etched onto the expressions of the students present. It was made clear to Izuku, and everyone involved, that they were about to face was a malice of outrageous proportions!

The situation was dire. Izuku knew he needed to act quick but he also knew that it would be reckless to jump straight in with minimal information. The villains were not going to keep talking forever but waiting for them to finish would give them the advantage of the first move.

He knew what must be done.

While Kirishima was in the middle of berating them for their supposed idiocy, Izuku already had his bangs over his eyes after ruffling them for a bit. Tsuyu, who happened to be monitoring the immediate area for any disturbances, saw Izuku's act, intriguing her.

Then, she turned to Yaoyorozu after hearing her chime up immediately after Kirishima's rant ended.

"Sensei, what about the intruder detection sensors?", asked the class VP to the Space Hero.

"Well… we have some set up but—"

"Kaminari! Try using your Quirk to contact anyone outside of the USJ!"

The blonde, confused, hastily fiddled with his headset to attempt contacting emergency services. To his dismay, all he got was static.

"I can't!", he cried out. "They must be using a jammer to cut off any electronic signals!"

"There's a chance it might be someone using an electrowave-type Quirk in here!", shouted Aizawa, who was amazed yet intrigued by Izuku's fast thinking. He would prefer to press him more on how he knew what he was about to say but now was not the time.

"No.13! Do the evacuation procedure!", barked Aizawa.

"Sensei! Are you going to fight them alone?!", asked Izuku, drops of sweat rolling down his face in worry. "Even if you suppress their Quirks, there's too many of them! The "Eraserhead" battle style is to capture villains _after_ erasing their Quirks meaning that the main battle starts now…"

The Quirk-erasing Hero gave him a confident glance and replied, "A hero always has a trick up their sleeves!"

He then turned towards No.13 and told him that he was counting on him and jumped into the fray.

Izuku, while having faith in his teacher's abilities, felt uneasy about it. He ruffled his hair once more and tried to summon Epitaph. However, to his surprise, it did not work. He ruffled it again and thought harder. Nothing.

 _'Huh?! Come on! Why isn't it working?!'_ , he mentally panicked. _'Diavolo! What is the meaning of this?!'_

 _What is?_

 _'THIS!'_

 _Oh, that? You can use it in a few more seconds._

 _'Why?!'_

 _Tch. Ah, well… I guess it is my fault for not telling you sooner, but your Stand has a cooldown period._

Izuku was dumbfounded. He fixed his hair and clenched his head while watching his homeroom teacher fighting the villains down below.

 _'Argh! Why didn't you tell me sooner?!'_

 _Because neither you nor I could predict this happening! Besides, my Stand is best utilised for instant takedowns, not full-frontal assault so I assume therefore it has this cooldown!_

Izuku put some thought into Diavolo's words and realised they made sense. It occurred to him that Stands, like Quirks, form to best fit the user's style and King Crimson was not technically his. However, he remembered that Diavolo also said that it might be adapting in his hands.

 _'Diavolo! How long is the cooldown?'_

 _Since Epitaph is a part of King Crimson, ten seconds. Why? Oh, you can use it now, by the way._

 _'Would it be possible for it to be shortened? If it is now a part of me, then I should be able to change it one way or another!'_

Without waiting for the don's reply, he immediately summoned Epitaph.

The first thing he saw in his vision was the cloud man appearing behind them to block the entrance after Iida's suggestion to escape. Then, he saw the cloud grow and expand, eventually encapsulating all of them before the vision ended.

Fixing his hair, his eyes darted towards the plaza. The cloud man was still there, the villains around Aizawa were in the middle of being wary of the hero's prowess in close-quarters combat and the ringleader was complaining.

Good. That meant he still had time before the prediction played out. He then snapped around back just in time to catch Iida about to call out to him. He quickly gestured him to keep quiet and ran to him, confusing the bespectacled teen.

"Midoriya, what's wrong?", whispered Iida when the green-haired teen reached him.

"I need you to go full-speed towards the exit _now!"_ , replied Izuku urgently.

"Why?"

" _Just do it now!",_ Izuku growled, not realising his voice sounding a lot lower than usual.

"I'm afraid I can't allow you to do that," said a voice in front of them, causing Izuku to look up and freeze.

He was too late.

The cloud man was already here and standing in their way.

"Greetings, we are the Villain Alliance—"

 _ZOOM!_

A cloud of dust was kicked up amidst the crowd the villain was talking to, trailing towards the exit.

 _'IIDA!',_ Izuku cheered in his head, hopeful to see a glimmer that his plan might just work.

However, the cloud was already beginning to expand and catch up to Iida, who was getting closer towards the exit. Suddenly, it's advance halted; a pained grunt came from the man as he felt two sharp blows to his physical body.

"Bet you didn't think we'd be able to do you in before you got the chance!", sneered Kirishima, who had his arm hardened into a shard along with Bakugou whose hands were smoking.

"Why you-!"

"Get the fuck outta here, four-eyes!", shouted Bakugou. "Don't make me waste my energy on you!"

"But—", stammered Iida.

"GO!"

With tears in his eyes, he revved up his legs and sped out of the USJ, his hands shaking the whole way.

"Damn!", the cloud cursed. "This is not what I had anticipated!"

 _'Yes! It worked!'_ , Izuku cheered.

 _But are you sure he knows who to meet and what to say?_

Izuku hesitated for a moment, realising the significance of his error, but confidently replied, _'I have trust in his ability to do the right thing. It wouldn't be fair for me to doubt someone who has done the same for me.'_

 _Fair enough._

"Everyone, look out!", cried Uraraka.

Izuku turned to look but it was far too late by then.

The cloud was engulfing them.

"You will be scattered and tortured…", uttered the cloud as Izuku watched the classmates around him disappear. "And slain."

He closed his eyes and brought his arms up to cover himself. He was quaking in his shoes, bracing himself for whatever pain the villain would dish out. However, it never came.

"Eh?", Izuku squeaked, peering through the gaps between his fingers. "Where am I—oh my god?!"

His heart was pumping at such intensity, he could feel its thumping beats all over. His eyes bulged wide and his blood ran cold.

Surrounded by dozens of bodies of knocked out villains, Izuku suddenly found himself in the central plaza. However, this was not the cause of his fear. Instead, what caused it was the sight of his homeroom teacher, bloody and battered, underneath the feet of the massive humanoid squatting over him, leering at him with dead eyes and a long slender tongue slithering through its snout-like like mouth.

"Kurogiri, what's the meaning of you bringing this brat here?", he heard a raspy voice berate someone. He turned to the side to see the hand-covered ringleader staring down the cloud man, who had taken on a more human-like shape.

"My apologies, Shigaraki Tomura,", the cloud called Kurogiri replied. "I'm afraid it's game over now."

" _What?!_ Why?!", shouted Shigaraki.

"I have not only failed to incapacitate No.13 but also I had been impeded by the students whom I could not scatter, thus resulting in one of them escaping with his life," informed Kurogiri.

The ringleader, Shigaraki, said nothing. Then, he began to moan and shake uncontrollably, hunching over.

"Black Mist, you…", he growled, glaring at Kurogiri. "If you can't be a proper warp gate, then our plans have _crumbled…_ "

"There's no doubt that if they throw a dozen pros at us, we'd lose…", he added after a brief pause. "Ahh… it's game over now…. It's _game over._ "

Then, he stopped and abruptly turned towards Izuku, who looked terrified of him.

"Although, even I would know the joy of _breaking_ the spirit of the Symbol of Peace if I killed one of his precious students in this prestigious academy! Oh, imagine the shame and humiliation both would feel!"

 _'Oh crap! What do I do now?!',_ Izuku screamed in his head. _'Think, Izuku, think! You can use a Smash here, but you'd be in danger if it somehow flunks up and leaves you with a broken arm. King Crimson, on the other hand, is powerful and maybe broken but it has a cooldown of ten seconds, which means I have to plan carefully what my next move will be!'_

A loud crack caused him to snap towards his side but then freeze in terror when he turned back to the front.

The monster was now in front of him next to a cackling Shigaraki.

"Meet Noumu, the artificial human!", he announced with open arms. "Originally, I planned to pit him against the final boss of this dungeon but, much like exploring the game world in a New Game +, it'll be _fun_ to demolish some low-level fodder with a legendary weapon!"

Izuku braced for impact when he saw the Noumu raise his fist but then panicked when he saw the Noumu dash instantaneously towards the Flood Zone. There, by the edge of the water, were his classmates, Tsuyu and Mineta, hiding behind the cover of the nearby foliage.

"NO!", came a shriek from his throat.

"Don't you think you should be focusing on something else, brat?"

He turned around. Shigaraki's hand was inches away from his head, about to collide in a matter of milliseconds. He wanted to hit him with a Smash, but could he really move that fast? There was only one other option.

He did not even bother calling it out, he screamed its name in the deep crevices of his psyche and the world appeared to come to a halt. To his surprise, instead of it appearing like time has stopped, everyone and everything around him seemed to have multiple afterimages of themselves in various actions and movements as though they were pieces of a film arranged frame-by-frame to the next scene.

"W-what is this?", Izuku blurted.

 _This, my boy, is how the realm of skipped time should look like. This is how using King Crimson looks like in the hands of I, Diavolo._

The teen Stand user, now no longer needing to fear being seen as crazy, replied to the don aloud, "So, if this is what it looks like through your eyes and its ability is to erase time, does that mean that—"

 _Yes, the afterimages you see are the courses taken by those who share not the powers of you and I. These are the paths pre-determined by Fate. Only I, and recently you, are the ones who can manipulate the outcome of Fate!_

"And, if my assumption is correct, these are the actions these people will take up until ten seconds?"

 _Precisely. However, time works differently here. While Epitaph predicts the foreseeable future, anything in between the time of activation and the time of it ending is essentially the realm of King Crimson's domain! This means that you can essentially spend as much time as you want to plan your course of action without worry._

Izuku rubbed his shoulder and gulped. "Isn't that a bit broken for an ability?"

 _Fool! When you can manipulate Fate itself, you have long crossed into that territory!_

The teen could only stare at the ground, feeling a bit ashamed of himself yet also rather proud. Sure, this would serve to further solidify his assumption that using his Stand is a bit like cheating, but it also allows him to do so much more than he ever could with his juvenile attempts at mastering One for All.

Remembering Diavolo's revelation of King Crimson's ability, he scanned the area around him to see which segment of time would be best erasing. He winced when he saw his own dead body, face crumbled into dust by Shigaraki's hand.

At least he now knew what his Quirk was…

Then, walking towards the Flood Zone, tears began flowing down his cheeks as he saw the mangled corpses of Tsuyu and Mineta floating lifelessly in the water while Noumu simply stood there with bloodied hands.

In a fit of fury, he lunged at the Noumu with red-hot tears but alas, he could not interact with anything in the erased time. His furious rage was quelled unceremoniously with a dull thud with solid ground.

He took deep breaths, trying to calm down while avoiding looking at the scene again. Once he had regained composure, he began to closely inspect every 'frame' to determine to point in time in which the Noumu made contact with his friends.

Then, he found it. A 'frame', a moment in time depicting the instance of the monster's fists clutching both his friends' heads. He then called forth King Crimson, appearing in its glorious rage. Without a word uttered, it dealt a swift blow to the 'frame', erasing it from existence. Then, he noticed that every other 'frame' prior to the one he erased, disappeared at once.

"Diavolo, does this mean that 'erasing time' doesn't mean erasing a specific moment, per se, but rather, a chunk of it beginning from the moment of activation.

 _That is indeed accurate. I think. It means that you have effectively removed the [cause], leaving only the [results]. Take a look at your friends now: instead of being a couple of corpses, they are now remaining in place for the remainder few seconds of action while the Noumu is still going through the phases as though he had gotten hold of them. The [results] of his movements remain but the [cause] of death had vanished._

Izuku said nothing. He was still in awe at the sight of his friends being alive. Then, he moved towards the 'frame' of Shigaraki heading towards the Noumu, presumably to check up on him. He instinctively positioned himself behind the 'frame', somewhat understanding a gist of what Diavolo was telling him earlier.

Taking a deep, long breath, he recalled King Crimson, allowing time to continue once more.

* * *

"Don't you think you should be focusing on something else, brat?"

Shigaraki, for lack of a better word, was having fun. His plan to kill All Might may have been thwarted but who's to say that he could not complete some secondary quests on the side, right?

He lunged with vigour towards the helpless green-haired teen, his hand pushing forward to make the brat feel the pain of his own face crumbling.

Suddenly, he found himself walking towards Noumu, who was also looking as confused as he was as he appeared to be looking at his hands in befuddlement.

 _'What the—it happened again! The glitch!',_ he internally yelled, while staring at his hands in disbelief. _'Is he here?! The student with the Quirk?! Oh man, I need to think fast or else I'd be—"_

 _POW!_

He snapped around after hearing a loud sound followed by a sickening squelch. His eyes then bulged when he saw that Noumu, apparently sensing his distress, standing in front of him. However, he could not care less for the actions of mindless puppet. What he was stunned at was seeing an entire muscular arm protruding from the monster's back through its chest before disappearing to leave a sick joke of a donut behind.

 _'W-what?!'_ , his mind blurted. _'This can't be! The only person who could do such a thing is All Might but he's not here!'_

Peering through the hole in the Noumu, which was beginning to close thanks to its regeneration ability, he saw the brat, looking mortified as though he had done it. But, it could not be…right? He _killed_ him! He was sure of it! He remembered every detail of the brat's shrieks of anguish and the sight of his disintegrating head as clear as day! How could this be?!

 _BOOM!_

A deafening crash came from the facility entrance followed a door flying by. There, by the entrance, in his office clothes and awe-inspiring figure was none other than the Symbol of Peace himself. And he was not smiling.

"Have no fear," he growled, "For I am here!"

"All Might!", cried Izuku, relieved.

Shigaraki, having completely forgotten about the brat, turned towards the hero with glee.

"It seems we have a continue on our hands!"

* * *

 _ **A/N: Hey guys! Sorry for the late update. University work just kept coming so I'm sorry for not being able to publish at a consistent rate. In any case, time to respond to some questions!**_

 ** _[antenesis]:_** **Please elaborate.**

 ** _[Lawless]:_** **I like that idea and it makes a lot of sense. :p**

 _ **[shadowprove97]:**_ **I've mentioned this already in my author's notes for the first chapter but the main reason I chose King Crimson specifically was because I noticed that Diavolo and KC weren't getting a lot of TLC in the JJBA side of . So, I thought to myself, "Wouldn't be silly to give it to Deku?" And thus this story was born. Of course, as I kept writing it, I realised how much potential lies in this concept as it can provide a new set of challenges to Izuku to deal with.**

 **Besides, Star Platinum is bit overused in my opinion.**

 ** _[Anc1ent]:_ I'm not too sure to be quite honest. I never had a pairing in mind when I wrote this but we'll see how it goes. I like to think of it as a journey of discovering the paths to whichever route the plot guides him to so who knows? Maybe we'll have one!**


	6. Ascension

Cracked lips grin with glee underneath the hand that served as a mask as the white-haired teen welcomed his target's arrival. His pride began to swell when he noticed the hero's scowl in place of his signature smile.

"Have no fear…for I am here!", he heard the hero announce his presence, anger clear in his tone. It did not matter to him now that the brat near him was close to tears seeing his dear saviour arrive nor the fact that most of the students were praising him like he was their salvation; he could now put his plan into motion!

With his arms open as he cackled, he rasped an order, "It seems we have a continue on our hands!"

 _Bang!_

A sharp pain shot through his hand, bringing his enthusiastic high to a stop. He slowly brought it closer to his face to see it…and the heroes that stood by the entrance through the bloody hole. He felt anger and pain surge, but he was met with several bullets to his arms, elbows and legs before he could have a chance at expressing any of it.

"Class 1-A rep, Iida Tenya, reporting for duty!", he heard the yelling of a bespectacled student that stood in the middle of the hero line up.

Then, before he could even think about ordering Noumu to finish off the brats near him and the teacher, All Might zipped towards the plaza and picked them all up and placed them far away from the Noumu before rushing off to maybe retrieve the other brats scattered around.

"A…a... ahh…. already?", he grunted. "We… overestimated our timer and we got a game over because we ran down the clock…"

Turning towards Kurogiri, who had never left his position since he returned to report his failure, he muttered, "I guess it's time to go back to the drawing board eh, Black Mist-?!"

His voice jumped up a few octaves for a moment as he felt his legs be swept away. It was as though they were being sucked into something and tugged at high speeds, causing his elbows to be scraped as his body was dragged across the ground. The scrapes stung—something he needed less of in addition to his gunshot wounds—and his mind stirred trying to regain his bearings.

Looking down, he saw that his feet were inside the warp gate that was part of Kurogiri. However, the warp gate itself was being sucked by an incredible force. His eyes trailed along the increasingly stretched body of the warp gate and found that it was being pulled into a vortex. At the end of it?

No.13.

All his gloves' fingertips have popped open, each fingertip creating a vortex which, when put together, became akin to a strong gravitational force. A black hole.

Before he knew it, he and Kurogiri were almost within 13's reach and his body half-consumed by Kurogiri's warp gate. While there was a sliver of hope that Kurogiri might be able to warp them back to the safety of their base of operations, it was beginning to look like there was not much Kurogiri left to complete the warp.

Then, in a desperate attempt at staving off capture, he yelled out the name of the weapon created to defeat All Might. "NOUMU!"

In an instant, the suction ceased after a loud slam was heard followed by the shattering of a visor.

"Thirteen!", he heard the heroes cried out as they saw a flash of white zip past. Thirteen's visor was gone, his head hung limp as he lay in his concrete indentation in the wall unconscious. A masked Pro Hero wielding revolvers in a cowboy-inspired costume was the first to recover from the shock and shot at Noumu, who stood there eyeing the other heroes.

As injured as he was, Shigaraki could not help but feel a slight rush of excitement watching the hero's body language go from exuding confidence to fear as bullets did nothing to the Artificial Human. This was perfect! With the Noumu's abilities, tailored specifically to counter All Might's, he might just clutch this round.

"Kurogiri, keep our distance!", he barked at the disoriented mass of warp essence. With some effort from the warp gate, he managed to place himself in an ideal position just by the bottom of the staircase leading up to the main entrance. From here, no hero should be able to find him, and he could still afford to be in range to keep Noumu receptive to orders.

"Shigaraki," he heard the warp gate whisper hoarsely, "Why aren't we taking this opportunity to escape? We have been compromised, are we not? Surely even Noumu wouldn't be able to fend off this many heroes."

"Because, Kurogiri, we shall not be leaving without taking a souvenir ourselves!"

Kurogiri hummed in amusement. "And what shall this 'souvenir' be, Shigaraki?"

The leader of the group of villains chuckled. "Any one of the students! You see what I'm getting at right? The Noumu is currently the best distraction we could hope for! Sure, we can escape now and the damage will already be done to their reputation but, why stop there when we can do so…much…more!"

Kurogiri narrowed his eyes in deliberation and peeked out of the corner of the staircase. Noumu appeared to be giving the other heroes a tough time but Thirteen's quirk was hindering the artificial being's mobility by a mile. More importantly though, All Might was nowhere in sight. At least, not for long. "Alright, we can afford a 'souvenir' but you must make it quick," he told Shigaraki. "The vast area of the facility might buy us some time as we have scattered some of the students but his speed is formidable. Furthermore, Noumu won't last long especially with Thirteen around."

Just then, the dreaded words have been uttered in triumphant joy. "We did it! We got him!"

Both villains snapped around the staircase corner and looked up where the heroes were fighting Noumu only to find that the massive mass of flesh and intimidation was currently suspended in mid-air, flailing around. "H-how?!", blurted Shigaraki. Then, he noticed a young brat in a pink spacey costume standing by Thirteen alongside other brats.

"Kurogiri…", he growled. "You didn't scatter all the brats, didn't you?"

The black mist hung his head in shame. "I'm afraid not. I only managed to get a handful of them."

Shigaraki muttered a curse under his breath and peeked around the corner to look for 'souvenirs'. A tuft of green entered his field of view just on the other end of the staircase, eliciting a grin to creep up onto his face. "I think I just found myself the perfect gift to bring back!"

* * *

Safety was a relative term. Were they free from imminent death by being mutilated and/or turned to dust? Yes. Were they free from villains? Not really but the cavalry Iida brought back certainly helped in keeping them off their position, which was a good thing because they have a teacher that was on the brink of death to take care of.

"M-man, why can't we go home?", whined the short Mineta. "All Might's here, the villains have mostly been beaten and we have the help we need, so why are we still here?"

Large eyes turned towards those quivering with tears, betraying no emotion. "That's because we still have friends scattered around the facility, ribbit. We cannot make a move until the safety of everyone is assured."

"B-b-but-!"

"Honestly, stay calm," chided Tsuyu while she tended to Aizawa's battered body. "You said so yourself, the help has arrived. I'm sure the Pros will be able to handle this. Besides, we still have some of our friends who weren't warped helping them out. Isn't that right, Midoriya?"

No response was given. Instead, she heard silent muttering coming from the boy. She turned towards him to find that Izuku was staring intently at the ground with his brows furrowed, his mouth moving as he spoke to himself. Despite having only known him for a few days, Tsuyu quickly learned that the green-haired teen had a penchant for creeping out people around him with his bouts of intense muttering. However, she felt that something had not been right with him lately. While there was nothing wrong with him in the explicit sense, the way he talked to himself felt…off.

She thought nothing of it when she caught him muttering again yesterday but she had seen him doing it more than once today. Sure, it was a force of habit for him, and that fact was true, but she noticed that the word vomit that seeped through his lips became less like a reflective analysis and more like a conversation. But with who?

"Tsuyu," she heard Mineta squeak. "What's Izuku doing? He's creeping me out…"

She turned towards the purple-haired midget and sighed. "He's muttering again, don't worry about it." Deep down, however, she was not sure she believed her own words. She walked up to him, pacing with caution to avoid detection and crouched behind him.

She was about to pat his shoulder to snap him out of his inner monologue when she heard something odd about the way he spoke.

 _"Just how strong is…?"_

 _"But…could have killed…"_

 _"Epitaph…can be used…what now…illusion…future…?"_

She could barely make out what he was saying but she knew one thing was for sure. Midoriya was definitely talking to a person. But who was it? He had no communicator on him and he had no telepathy to speak of so it must be himself. But only those deemed crazy had conversations of such intensity with themselves and the class president was very much sound of mind. Then, she saw him ruffle his hair, letting it cover his eyes.

It must have something to do with his new Quirk that no one else knew because she had seen him do it when the villains began their invasion of the USJ. It had to be the case because there was no solid reason for a person to let down their hair for the sole purpose of covering their eyes and then fix it shortly after. This was usually the time when he started giving information that was a bit too accurate to their current situation to be a lucky guess or a product of study.

She might not know what Midoriya's new Quirk exactly was but she now knew in included a form of insight in addition to his weird ability with time. Come to think of it, no one in class ever approached him on the subject. Well, what better time than the present, right? Thus, her hand came into contact with the class president's shoulder with soft tap, sending said president to jump up and shriek.

"T-T-Tsuyu!", Izuku stammered. "I was muttering again, w-wasn't I?" He scratched his head with a sheepish smile.

"Yes, and you're creeping us out," stated the frog girl with a blank face. "Stop that."

He apologised for a while before sobering up. "Oh yeah, did you want to say something or was it just my muttering?"

"Yes and no."

Izuku tilted his head. "What?" He began to feel uneasy as large eyes threatened to look closely into the windows of his soul.

"I did want to ask you something and, in a way, they are related to your habit of muttering," she said.

His eyes went wide and panic weighed on his heart. "W-wait! What do you-?"

"You're not actually muttering to yourself, are you?", she questioned him. "You're talking to someone."

 _Crap._ If it was physically possible for blood to drain from your body due to fear, this was what it would have felt like. He felt like he was sweating bullets but there was nothing but the chill that crept up on him.

 _'What am I going to do?!',_ he mentally screamed. _'She's already close to figuring out the truth about King Crimson! When that happens, Diavolo is going to be found out too! And then—wait a minute… why am I getting all worked up for? This isn't like me.'_

 _Boy… Don't you dare do what you think you are going to do..._

 _'But why would it matter, Diavolo? Tell me, why? You've been watching me for a while, right? You should have figured out that society views being a hero akin to that of having a highly-respected job. That means everything about them, their powers and identities, are registered into the government's database. Heroes are no longer operating on their own terms, per se, but rather under the government's employ. There are even agencies where budding youths go to get enlisted as a sidekick to work with an established hero.'_

 _What in the blazes-?!_

 _'Yeah, I know. It's kinda weird. Before I became a student here, Kacchan was attacked by a slime villain. Long story short, my then Quirkless-self rushed over to try and help him. All Might came and all was good. However, I got reprimanded for my recklessness by the other Heroes but Kacchan, the victim, was praised even though his Quirk was what prevented them from being able to help him to begin with. So, yeah… It's either I tell people about you now or later when I need to get registered for my Hero License.'_

 _Like I care! I, Diavolo, am the Emperor of Fate and I demand that my identity be kept away from public knowledge!_

Izuku let out a sigh. The don was being difficult. Glancing over to Mineta and Tsuyu, he could tell that he was muttering again. The unease in their eyes confirmed it. What a bother… Still, something in him was telling him that having Diavolo around was affecting him. He felt more cautious about letting others know about his Stand even when he himself acknowledged the need for transparency.

 _'Alright, Diavolo,'_ he started. _'You know what? Fine. But I'll have you know that whatever it is that is forcing you to think that it is necessary to be this paranoid is probably gone now. Centuries have passed, remember? Besides, I'll only let those who I can trust know about it and that means my classmates, my teachers and, should it come to it, my mother. Capiche?'_

 _Don't come regretting this decision when it comes to bite you later._

 _'We'll cross that bridge when we get there, Diavolo.'_

"All right, Tsuyu," Izuku replied. "I am talking to someone. But, it's a bit complicated so I'll just say that it's related to my-ARGH!"

Suddenly, he felt his head pounding. Hard. He began to grunt in pain as the throbbing grew more intense. Then, a sharp pain that he could imagine were knives sliding along his extremities down to the bone shot all over him. It was a torment so excruciating that he dropped to the ground and convulse, all the while clutching his head and grunt as he tried to stop himself from screaming.

"Midoriya!", Tsuyu cried, rushing to his aid.

"Is it a villain attack?!", shrieked Mineta, his eyes beginning to tear up already.

Tsuyu's face might not be the most expressive but she was without doubt feeling scared. Her homeroom teacher was beaten within an inch of his life left and now her friend was convulsing sporadically on the ground with anguish. She wanted to help. To do something. Anything. But her body froze and she did nothing but watch as Izuku Midoriya suffered.

Then, almost as sudden as how it began, it ended. The green-haired teen had ceased movement, his breathing now slow but laboured.

"HE'S DEAD!", Mineta shrieked. "Oh my god, why?! I don't wanna die! I don't wanna die! HELP—mmph?!"

"Calm down!", Tsuyu ordered while she covered Mineta's mouth, not really calm herself. "He's alive, Mineta. Look. His chest is moving, it means that he's still breathing."

"Oh."

"Indeed, 'oh'.

Both students snapped around towards Izuku's direction before feeling their guts drop into a pit. The white-haired villain and the ominous amorphous dark mass were standing over Izuku's unconscious body.

"Oh, where are my manners. I'm Shigaraki Tomura, leader of the League of Villains," the white-haired one said. "This here is Kurogiri, the warp gate."

Shigaraki fit the bill of an intimidating villain. Despite his lanky form and bullet holes, he had sunken red eyes and most of his face and head were covered in gloved hands. While his mouth was covered by a hand, the students could tell that he was grinning with malice.

"What do you want?", Tsuyu demanded, steeling herself to keep her voice from quivering. She had an idea of what Shigaraki's Quirk could do when she saw it in action during Aizawa's fight with him. His touch caused Aizawa's arm to start disintegrating. The warp gate next to him could send her elsewhere on a whim which she must be careful in making a move. They were also too close to Izuku so there was always the risk that Shigaraki might kill him.

"Me?", mocked Shigaraki. "I want nothing but All Might's destruction, brat. But you see, that plan is foiled. The other heroes who are not-All Might are here and my Noumu is now in hero custody as you can see from his floating flailing body."

Tsuyu glanced at the top of the staircase to find that he was telling the truth. Uraraka and Thirteen were using their Quirks together to keep the monster suspended. While she could now breathe easy that the monster that was about to kill her earlier was subdued, an air of unease lingered. If their trump card was gone, there's only one thing the villains could do. Her eyes grew wide.

"You're thinking of kidnapping one of us, aren't you?", she pressed, her tone stern but her expression as blank as ever.

Shigaraki whistled in amusement. "Impressive for a brat like you. Then again, the snotty midget behind you was probably hoping we'd all go home and be on our merry way," he sneered. "Am I right?"

Mineta shrunk behind Tsuyu, clamping onto her leg. He was then kicked off with little fanfare when his hand 'accidentally' made its way to her aft quarters.

"Sorry, you were saying?", said Tsuyu, ignoring Mineta's whining.

"Quite the feisty one, eh?", Shigaraki mused. "Don't you think so, Kurogiri? Never mind, don't answer that. I already know. Anyways, you're right. We will be taking one of you with us, preferably alive—ooph!"

Kurogiri helped the lanky villain up, his legs shaking. "Ah… the adrenaline rush is fading away…darn it."

Shigaraki then took a deep breath and forced himself up. "As you can see, time is not kind to me both to my health and to our safety. It's only a matter of time before your precious All Might returns so, I might as well make my move now."

Then, in a brief moment, he saw the frog girl pounce towards him. He tried lifting his arm but he noticed her move a second too late. Luckily for him, Kurogiri covered him and warped her behind them, causing her to land face first.

"Just because I said you were feisty doesn't mean I'd let you be feisty, brat," he sneered. "On the flip side, you've only proven to me that you're too much trouble bringing back so I'll just take this green tuft of grass then."

Tsuyu quickly got on her feet but was stopped from moving when the villain hovered his un-gloved hand over Izuku's face.

"Tsk, tsk. Not so fast," he threatened, his voice now gruff. "Make another move like that and I will not hesitate to change my policy in bringing in live specimen. I've made it clear that I want All Might's destruction and if I can't kill him then I can just as easily break him by doing this!"

Unbeknownst to him, however, his hostage was beginning to stir. He caught the frog girl holding her breath and followed her gaze. Then, upon feeling his hostage moving a bit, he panicked. Things got from bad to worse when he then heard the sound of heavy footsteps approaching them like a locomotive. " _All Might…"_ , he seethed.

He glared at the frog girl, removed his hand-mask and grinned. "Whoops. Sorry, girlie. Time's up for me," he declared before changing his grin to a devilish smirk. "And time's up for him."

"No!", he heard her scream, making him feel even more ecstatic as he dramatically raised his hand over the boy's face.

"Say goodbye!", he yelled and then, in one fell swoop, he slammed his hand into…himself?

"What the hell?!", he blurted. He felt his hand crash straight into soft facial tissue but, the person lying on the ground was him. But, he couldn't be the one on the ground as he was also the one standing over the body. Yet, his hand, his own hand, was smothering his own face that lay on the ground. "What is going on?!"

"What you just saw… what you just touched…", a deep voice uttered from behind him. "That was your future self!"

He snapped around, ready to kill this interloper that dared to interfere only to freeze in place. His sunken eyes grew into red marbles, his unmasked face revealing a mouth open in shock, surprise and, most notably, _fear._ His world was spinning around as a wave of overwhelming confusion swept him away.

What stood before him was a floating humanoid being with a face that expressed nothing but pure rage, its emerald eyes boring into his soul whilst another smaller face frowned upon him. Behind it, was the brat. But, at the same time, it was not him. The figure had green hair that, while unkempt and similar in style to the brat's, was rather long. His stature was several inches taller than the brat, making him about as tall as the bespectacled loudmouth from earlier. His musculature was noticeably bulkier yet lean, fitting snug in his school gym uniform. Most importantly, however, was his face. His eyes were a gleaming verdant hue with fragmented irises, his expression and mouth etched in a frightful scowl.

He wanted to tell the figure to stay back. To get away or he'll threaten to fight back. But, his body betrayed his mind as he stood still.

"Let me finish this," the figure declared in an ominous tone, the crimson humanoid raising its arm and clenching its hand into a solid fist. In less than a second, a loud resounding smash was heard and the villain known as Shigaraki was now knocked out cold, his head bouncing upon impact.

The figure stood over the villain's body in triumph, his posture hunching slightly forward behind the crimson humanoid. Then, the humanoid faded away, the figure's face relaxed into one that Tsuyu, Mineta and All Might, who had arrived just after the finishing blow was delivered, recognised in a heartbeat.

Izuku Midoriya.

Then, he turned around, looked at the three gawking onlookers and smiled. His eyes then fluttered shut and he collapsed to the ground.

* * *

 _He remembered how it was like to die. Every rapid-fire blow shattered his bones and he could feel his life slipping away and yet, when he woke up, he was in a sewer with some vagrants. One vagrant accused his of theft and proceeded to shank him several times. He tried to fend for himself but his Stand would not come and his body would not move._

 _Then, he woke up on a metallic bed. A nurse was standing by the bed, scalpel in hand. She took up a notepad and wrote him off as deceased. He yelled at her as loud as he could that he was alive but his words fell on deaf ears. It was not long before he felt the cold steel digging into his flesh, stinging and ripping him apart. Before his consciousness blacked out, he could see the nurse holding up his heart with fascination._

 _The next time he woke up, he was alone on a grassy hill. For a while, he thought he had reached the 'special' place people go to after death. It was quiet and the breeze was nice. It all came crashing when he saw a young child running towards him. Fearing for his life, he backed away, dragging himself on the ground while screaming at the child to stay away. A loud honk and an intense concussion later, he found himself staring at his own headless body…_

"Uwah!"

Izuku shot straight up, sending the white sheets covering him flying. His face was damp with cold sweat as he was still shaken by his nightmare.

"Do not fear, for I am here!", he heard a familiar voice boom beside him. Turning towards it, his face lit up.

"All Might?", he beamed before dimming a bit. "Where…am I?"

"You are in the school's infirmary, my dear," came a kind, elderly voice. Approaching him with her walking stick, Recovery Girl whacked Izuku over the head with it.

"Ow!", winced the teen. "What was that for?!"

"That was for over-exerting yourself in a dangerous situation and for keeping your other Quirk a secret from the school!", she barked.

Izuku sheepishly scratched his head. "I'm sorry for that…wait. You know of my other Quirk?"

"That, Shuuzenji, would be my fault for not informing this to you sooner," All Might interjected.

The elderly woman huffed and whacked the Symbol of Peace over the head as well, causing him to deflate. "Jeez, Toshinori! No matter how many years have passed, you still haven't gotten your priorities straight!"

"All Might!", Izuku cried in panic. "Your identity!"

The deflated hero simply laughed him off and patted his shoulder. "Fear not, young Midoriya, for she is part of the few people who know of my true identity. The others include, but not limited to, the principal, yourself, and a police officer who's friends with me."

"I…see," mumbled Izuku, relieved. Then, he perked up, remembering something. "How are the others? How's Aizawa-sensei?"

"Don't you worry, my boy," All Might reassured. "All students were unharmed while Aizawa is in the hospital at the moment. If anything, some of your fellow classmates dispatched several villains on their own! Not to mention Uraraka, who was brave enough to approach that monster to make it float!"

"The monster?!"

"It's now being held in maximum security," stated the hero matter-of-factly. "The authorities have been trying to get answers out of it but it was totally unresponsive to any form of stimuli. Most disturbingly, however, is the fact that it had multiple Quirks. Or rather, the Quirks were forced into it."

Izuku's face turned to worry. "What do you mean?"

All Might sighed. "Blood tests showed that Noumu was once a petty criminal. Nothing out of the ordinary. But, he only had one Quirk. Noumu had several terrifying Quirks and none of them were his own. Whatever procedure he had gone through had completely wiped him of all personality and sense of self, meaning that he was effectively a living machine."

The teen gulped audibly, causing the blonde deflated hero to remember something.

"Oh, of course! Your other Quirk, how could I forget that?", said All Might, rubbing his head while his protégé looked on in worry. He then cleared his throat on looked at Izuku dead in the eye. "The whole school knows about it now."

"What?!", blurted Izuku, his jaw hanging open.

"Relax, relax! What I meant to say was, all your classmates and the heroes involved know of it already!"

Izuku closed his mouth and looked onto the wall in front of him, staring at it with blank eyes. "They…saw…didn't they?", he asked, defeated.

"Afraid so, my boy," the hero replied. "When you suddenly appeared behind the villain, everyone saw your second Quirk. Your Stand. More importantly, Tsuyu and Mineta saw the villain's movement to be weird, as though it skipped a few steps. Your appearance changed too. According to several heroes who were watching your fight from atop the staircase, they said you looked intimidating and you weren't hesitant to kill."

"I wouldn't!", Izuku protested. "You know I wouldn't!"

All Might looked at him, turned to Recovery Girl and looked at him again before sighing. "I know, young Midoriya, I know. But, the thing is, you did not sound like yourself at the time."

The green haired teen swallowed hard. He knew where this was going. "What do you mean?"

"Your voice, your tone and attitude, were completely different from your usual self," All Might stated. "Even your body structure was different, young Midoriya."

"In fact," he added, beckoning the elderly Recovery Girl to hand over some files. "The changes to your physique are permanent."

Upon hearing this, alarm bells rang in his head, his eyes became dinner plates and he shot out of the bed. After hurriedly asking for mirror, he checked himself. What All Might said was true. He was different.

His hair was longer, he was taller and more muscular than before, a mix of lean and bulk and his clothes were now snug. Fortunately, his face remained unaltered and his eyes were the same normal green.

"Whoa…", he muttered in fear, shock and amazement.

"Indeed, my boy," said All Might. "Which was why both Recovery Girl and I had every reason to believe that, as crazy as it sounds, that there is another person living inside you."

Izuku blinked once. Twice. Then, he looked at both All Might's and Recovery Girl's faces. Both were dead serious. Well, so much for keeping it a secret, Don. He then laughed out loud, wiping away his tears and faced them.

"Well, wouldn't you like to know?", he asked playfully, one eye normal, the other, fragmented.

* * *

 _ **A/N: Hey there! I would first like to apologise for the late upload. I've been rather busy as of late and the workload has been piling up. Fortunately, uni term ends by the end of next week so I'd be free for a month or so! Till then, I'll see you in the next upload!**_


	7. Big Changes, Small Changes

The flowers by the bedside bloomed without a care in the world, oblivious to the heaviness in the air around them. The evening rays, as beautifully amber as they were, seemed to amplify the tense atmosphere in the school's medical bay by illuminating only half of the boy's face, highlighting the faint yet distinct fragmented emerald glow in the shadowed half. The radiant light blue appeared to flicker, occasionally glancing towards the slanted eyes of the wise elderly nurse.

Was the boy that was glaring at them with a mischievous grin on a hospital bed the same Izuku Midoriya? Or was this the 'other'? All Might had had half a mind to call up a priest to perform an exorcism because this reminded him too much about that old horror movie he watched back when he was still a freshman at UA. But, noticing the knowing glint from the elderly Recovery Girl, he swallowed down his hesitation for fear of the hard thwack that would come if he pressed 'call' on the priest's number.

"Who are you?" asked All Might, his scrawny frame leaning forward. "And what do you want with the boy?"

Izuku, or at least, what appeared to be Izuku, leered at him with a scowl. He shifted around for a bit, slowly opening and closing his fists to make himself comfortable with the binds wrapped around his arms and legs to the side fixtures of the hospital bed. "And you expect me to answer that question when you clearly lack any trust in the boy yourself?" he half-growled, half-mused with a brow arched.

"So, you _do_ admit to being a separate entity living within young Midoriya?" interrogated All Might as his brows furrowed, an edge of seriousness in his tone.

"And you _do_ admit in your lack of trust in your own student?" 'Izuku' replied snidely with a smug grin. His grin grew at the shaking figure of the skinny sunken hero as he felt the hero's sky-blue eyes bore holes into him.

"No! It is you who I do not trust, not the boy!" All Might declared with an accusing finger. "Ever since his Stand appeared, his muttering only got worse! One of my students have reported to me that his mutters have become less like analytical reflection and more like a conversation! Furthermore, his body is changing, no doubt because of what you've done!"

The weight of air became harder to ignore as the silence hung over the green-haired boy and the blonde hero. They glared at each other, emerald against sky-blue in an unspoken battle of wills. Recovery Girl, who had been watching silently from the sides, said nothing. The silence was then broken when 'Izuku' began to laugh heartily with a voice that was better suited with a villain that a budding hero.

"Fool!" the entity possessing Izuku said with a sly grin but the murder in his green eyes betrayed the façade of calm the grin exuded. "You better be grateful that he communicates with me with his incessant muttering! If he were a lesser man, he would have been mimicking the sounds of a telephone while maniacally looking around for anything that can be held in his hand to act as a faux phone!"

All Might flinched at the sudden raise in tone from 'Izuku' but at the same time he felt a drop of sweat roll down his face in intrigue. "Lesser…man…?" he asked. "What do you mean by that?" Even Recovery Girl moved closer in interest at this.

Had his arms and legs not bound to the bed, this would be the moment where he would be standing tall and strike a menacing pose with his Stand in front of him but alas, that was not the case. So, to improvise he opted to lean back into the bed with an infuriating smile.

"You heard me: lesser man," he declared. "It is something that the boy is not." Seeing the arched brow on the Symbol of Peace, he inwardly smiled. The bait had been taken.

"What is it then that makes young Midoriya more than, a 'lesser man', as you put it?" asked All Might.

 _'Bingo!'_ he smirked to himself. He cleared his throat for a bit before giving his answer. "What makes him more than just a lesser man are his mental fortitude and his unwavering tenacity."

All Might's eyes widened but his body remained rigid. He could not afford to show weakness towards this unknown entity. "I know that the young lad has an exceptional determination in the fire in his eyes," he said, a warm smile creeping its way into his expression as he remembered the reckless feat of selflessness the boy showed when the slime villain held young Bakugou hostage. "Quirkless though he may have been, it was that fire that caught my eye. It told me that he was the one whom I could entrust the will of the Symbol of Peace onto."

Catching the intrigued brow raised by 'Izuku', he continued with a sigh. "Don't get me wrong, whoever you are. This is a not a sign of my trust. I know that you've been inhabiting the body of my student for a while, so it is only logical to know that you know most of what he knows already. Besides, you've yet to expand further on what you meant by young Midoriya's mental fortitude, let alone your identity."

'Izuku' scoffed at this. "My identity?" he asked as though he had heard a subordinate's redundant repetition of an order. It was the blonde hero's utterance of his name after all that pulled him out of the recesses of the boy's mind. Taking a moment to take in the serious glare from the blond hero, a reluctant chuckle escaped his lips. "You serious?"

A slow nod was given in response.

A swell of glee was slowly but surely beginning to fill his chest. His face might not show it, but it was getting harder to deny the feeling of ecstasy at this revelation. His identity is safe! Fate has bestowed upon him fortune once more! However! He also begrudgingly acknowledged that what the boy told him earlier was true; transparency was king in the current system! A nagging feeling at the back of head—either his paranoia or the boy's over-analytical mind affecting him—was telling him that this might be a ruse to lull him into a false sense of superiority.

As much as he hated to admit it, centuries of being in a purgatory of infinite deaths got him to realise that his pride and arrogance had blinded him to many things that could have saved him. Like that *Bucciarati's strong sense of righteousness…

No matter. The past was in the past. After all, the fundamental philosophy of his life still held true: the world only remembers the results! The only record of him being only a dusty book was proof of this! It definitely would not hurt to indulge this sunken man a bit. With hundreds of years being believed to be dead, he highly doubted that anyone would think that he, Diavolo, would be as big of a threat now. Even if the hero system decided to keep tabs on him while he remained in the boy, his powerful mafia was gone, and the boy's memories informed him that the hero staring him down was responsible for this current age of low crime rate.

However, no one said anything about consolidating power _within_ the system though…

"Very well then," 'Izuku' began. "I shall tell you my identity and any information about myself in exchange for…"

"Exchange for what?" interrupted All Might, shifting a bit in his seat as the tone 'Izuku' was using had an uncomfortable familiarity to that of one of his greatest foes.

"For the assurance that this young boy be allowed to continue about his daily life as normal, of course." Sensing the apparent confusion in the blonde hero, he scoffed. "What? Were you expecting that I start a blood contract? Demand your soul? Honestly, spectacular circumstances may have made me what I am now, but I am most certainly not a demon. I've spilled blood, sure, but what self-respecting self-made man would I be if I didn't dirty my hands to ensure my organisation ran smoothly?"

If he was correct about the blonde hero's ignorance of his identity being a ruse, All Might was not making it easy for him to confirm his suspicions as his surprise was looking genuine. He had to be a pretty good actor or actually shocked to be able to pull off that sort of expression. Whatever the case, what he was certain about was that the hero got the message.

"You're…Diavolo?!" he heard the hero blurt out. He expected that. All Might seemed like the kind of guy to be a bit on the slow side, even if he was smarter than he let on considering he did manage to figure it out. What he did not expect was the sigh of relief that came out of the hero. _What._

Even Recovery Girl seemed confused. What was it that All Might was relieved about? Fortunately, she did not have to wait long to get an answer.

"It all makes sense now…" All Might began. "The Artificial Human with many Quirks, the sudden appearance of the League of Villains, the ramblings of Shigaraki Tomura—"

"Ramblings?" 'Izuku' mused.

"Well, while you did manage to hold back and keep him alive, you _did_ slam his head hard enough that it bounced off the ground. If anything, I'm he surprised he made it out with only concussions and being put in a coma. Anyways, when I came to visit him earlier—"

"You had time?"

All Might's brow twitched in ire. "Yes, because I received news from my former teacher that he's…he's…" The words he wanted to say were caught in his throat, unsure if he even believed in them. "He's the grandson of my late mentor."

"And?"

"And what?" the hero answered with a slight growl.

'Izuku' did not miss the elderly nurse was shooting at him as well as if trying to say, ' _Have you no tact?!'_ Of course, no. It was meaningless trying to dwell on such petty matters when they are in the way of answers. Only the results matter. Then again, he also did not want a repeat of Bucciarati. How annoying. "And what of the ramblings? I apologise for my rudeness in this matter, but I firmly believe that we must focus on our priorities. Moping about it won't bring your mentor back especially when you seem to have information that can help avenging this mentor of yours."

All Might bit back a snarl at the disrespectful manner this entity was addressing the memory of his mentor because he had to accept that he was right. He took a deep breath to calm himself down, noticing now how much he was shaking in anger and grief at the news he received a while ago.

"As much of a horrible person you're currently being, you're right," the hero sighed while running his hand through his hair. "Because the ramblings do have some vital information on the man who took her life away."

If Recovery Girl had been playing the role of the silent observer, this news was enough to bring her out of it as she gasped in horror at the implications. "Toshinori…you mean that—"

"Yes…All for One still lives," he lifelessly declared while hanging his head low. A pregnant pause hung over the room. "I've had this…feeling that All for One, with his many Quirks and vast network, would still be alive somehow. Hearing this news…I'm glad, somewhat, that my suspicions were not wrong.

"But to hear of it at a time like this, however…"

'Izuku' was not sure what to make of the news. He suspected that the boy probably knew more about it but all he could gather from his memories were that All Might had supposed killed All for One. Interesting. Noticing that silence had been introduced to the room once more, he decided it was time to have a conversation of his own. Closing his eyes, he felt his consciousness sink into the void of the subconscious. Once he reopened them, he noticed the boy glaring at him with his arms crossed, standing in the blank white void of the subconscious of Izuku Midoriya.

"I take it, you've heard everything?" he asked the green haired boy, staring him down now that he can assume his true form as Diavolo.

"Yes," Izuku replied. Normally he would be mildly disturbed at the sight of a pink haired scowling Italian man in tight jeans and spaghetti straps, but he was too miffed at the Italian's treatment of his idol.

"Good. What can you gather from all of that?"

"I can gather that you're an insufferable asshole."

Diavolo scoffed at this. "Took you long enough to establish that," he said as though he were bored. Noticing the boy's mouth about to open, he cut it off before it could happen, "Now what can you actually gather from this situation?"

Izuku's mouth clammed up. He was right about needing to focus on priorities. He knew that but here was indulging in his emotions. How could he not, though? He was being rude to All Might! But, at the same time, this news was something he had not heard before. One for All lives and Shigaraki Tomura was All Might's mentor's grandson? That's quite a lot of information to swallow all at once. Although, considering the League of Villains main purpose of showing up at the USJ, the apprehension of Tomura will definitely throw a wrench into All for One's plans. Why? Because even if they did fail in killing All Might or bringing back a hostage, the fact that the school was attacked to begin with was enough to strike a blow at UA High's reputation and, by extension of him working there, All Might's. But with his main chess piece gone, how would this nemesis of All Might's react? Would he break Tomura out or—

" _Mio dio,_ enough already!" Diavolo snapped, startling the poor boy. "Even in the realm of your subconscious, you're still able to make a conscious effort to mutter!"

"I-I'm sorry!"

He sighed while running his hand down his face. "It's fine. You've already told me what I asked you about anyway." _'Even if it was all by your lonesome,_ ' he mentally added.

"So…what now?"

"Hm?"

"What do we do now? The school knows about you and the Stand, everyone in my class is probably afraid of me now, I need to let my mom know about all this and then there's the fact that All Might's nemesis is still alive and possibly plotting his return."

Diavolo appeared to contemplate the boy's question, his slender fingers stroking his chin every so often. Izuku took this moment to observe the Italian's mannerisms and form. There was without doubt that Diavolo was a paranoiac; his fragmented eyes wildly darting around once in a while and his intense desire to remain hidden were indicative of that. He also had the potential to be charismatic as he had a way with words. However, his…sense of fashion undermines any charisma he might have. Then there was the fact that he was tall, something Izuku was concerned about ever since the fusion happened. Should the fusion ever be completed, would he be overtaken by Diavolo, remain himself or become something else entirely?

"To answer that question, even I do not know what would happen if the fusion had been total," the Italian said gruffly, causing the boy to blush in embarrassment at being caught muttering. Again.

"And don't you dare disrespect my clothing!" he snapped. "It's a complex mesh-wire shirt, not a spaghetti strap, you uncultured fool! I don't care what millennium this is, but this style was hip in the 90s!"

A bead of sweat rolled down Izuku's face as he was unsure whether to apologise to the mafia don or point out that his style of fashion was rather…niche even back then. At least, that was what he thought.

"Anyway," Diavolo cleared his throat. "I am not sure what path this may lead us. If this All for One is the crime kingpin I think he is, he will try to reach out to any remaining crime groups in his control to act."

The boy gulped when he saw the don's lips furl into a sinister smirk before returning to neutral.

"In any case, _boy_ ," he uttered, looking at Izuku with his head tilted and his body hunched a bit away from him. "Let's not allow Fate the chance to determine the paths of us who are beyond lesser men! I do believe it is time for our president here to consolidate some power of his own!"

* * *

After a good 5 minutes of reassuring All Might that he was indeed Izuku Midoriya, he was finally released from the binds. It took another 2 minutes of accepting the blonde hero's apologies for him to actually step out of the school infirmary and make his way home. Man, what a day. What a day, indeed.

He did not think it was possible for him to feel this tired physically and mentally. Villains attacking his school; unwittingly exposing Diavolo to the world along with his Stand; his idol's greatest nemesis and the world's most notorious villain was still alive; a lot of it was too much for him to process at once. Let alone a single day. He needed a good night's rest to settle himself down. Then, there's the Italian's plan to 'consolidate' power. Judging by the way he elaborated it, it sounded like a very roundabout way of saying that he needed trustworthy friends. Friends that he could depend on when the going got rough and friends from all walks of life. It was what he somewhat planned to do anyway. Minus the whole deliberate 'consolidation' part.

With a heavy sigh, he knocked on the door to his house, calling out, "I'm home!" Judging by how dark it was outside, a weak grin formed as he prepared himself for an earful from his mom for being out so late. He stiffened his form upon hearing the frantic clacking of the door's lock being slid open and the fumbling of the lock's chain. Boy, he was definitely in for it now. Door was going to fly open anytime now so might as well get on with it.

"Mom, I'm sorry for—"

"Izuku!" his mom cried out as she flew out of the door to hug her son. She held him tight and her sobs were barely stifled. "Oh, my poor Izuku! I was so worried! I saw the news a-and I didn't see you in the group of students a-a-and then I heard from the school that you had to be sent to the infirmary and I…I…!"

He was taken aback by the intensity of his mother's sadness and worry, his heart jumping a few beats. Then, he realised that the whole incident had to have been reported on national news. Sure, there were no cameras in the USJ itself but he could imagine what his mom felt when he did not show up. Oh no.

"Mom!" Izuku cried too, his tears welling up from the edges of his eyes. "It's okay, mom. I'm here, aren't I?" He reciprocated his mother's embrace with warmth. For a while, they both said nothing, letting themselves cry into the other's shoulder. He never wanted to worry her. Never wanted to see her cry again. Never wanted her to feel guilty again. She ate more when she felt that way and he hated it. And yet, here he was, worrying her to tears.

So, he took a breath, stood up and beamed a warm smile. A true hero was one that smiled in the face of adversity not for intimidating the villain, but to inspire hope in the hearts of the people. "Let's go and have dinner, okay? I'm famished."

Wiping away her tears, she looked up at her son and nodded. "Okay."

It was at this point that both Midoriyas became overly aware of the younger one's change in height. She was literally looking up at him.

"O-oh my!" Inko blurted. "I've heard of growth spurts but you got hit with one pretty hard and fast, huh?"

"Heheh…guess so…" mumbled Izuku as he scratched his head in slight embarrassment.

"And that also means that you're beginning to have an interest in girls too, right?"

" _Mom!"_

"Oh my, such intensity!" His mother giggled a little while covering her mouth before beckoning for her son to enter the house. "Well come on in! Dinner's not going to stay warm for long and that Uraraka girl would like you to stay healthy and fed!"

" _Mom!_ Please!" squirmed Izuku, his face red. He knew it was a mistake to let her name slip during their conversation over breakfast earlier today. He was just excited to talk about his new friends, that's all… In hindsight, it was probably a good thing he did not have time to mention Kyouka or he would his mom pestering about meeting her first thing in the morning. I mean, she was the reason he even knew some old bands prior to Diavolo's broad knowledge on that matter.

On the other hand, he did not mind this. The motherly affection and teasing that would cause many a teenager to squirm in discomfort. It showed him how strong she was on the inside; how her ability to be happy and playful after being worried and sad in a few short moments showed that she still was able to feel joy. For him. Especially after that fateful day to the doctor's years ago to discover his lack of a Quirk.

He was not sure if this happiness was because he has a Quirk now or if this was something she came up with to cope with his father's constantly being overseas but, in any case, he knew this was genuine. He never blamed her, or anyone for that matter, for ever feeling an iota of doubt or pity for being Quirkless.

"Izuku!" his mother called out. "Are you going to eat? Or are you fine standing outside?"

A chuckle escaped his lips and he gave her a heartfelt smile. "Coming!" He noted the extra-large bowl of katsudon on the table where he usually sits. Ah. She probably thought he needed the additional portions. She _wasn't_ wrong, though. He did feel hungry. His mind wandered to Recovery Girl's report that his physical changes were permanent. Should he then tell his mom about his Stand? Sensing the good mood she was in and remembering how she reacted when he told him about his 'not-inherited' Quirk, he figured it was worth a shot.

So, here he was, sitting by the dining table with his mother enjoying their katsudon together with him surprisingly finishing the large serving a lot faster than he expected. His mother shot him a smile and joked about something about growing young lads. It was then that he decided was the moment of attack. He waited until the laughter subsided then went through the motions of setting the tension by saying, "Mom, I have something important I want to tell you."

A lean forward and the sudden disappearance of the joyous atmosphere signalled that it was time to drop the bomb. He summoned King Crimson and let the scowling humanoid float beside him for a good second before saying anything. "I have another Quirk, Mom."

A loud crash, an overturned chair and an unconscious Inko Midoriya was the result of his planned conversation. Well, he did expect this. He also commended silently for staring at the Stand for a solid second before passing out.

He had a _lot_ of talking to do.

 _Sigh._

* * *

 ** _A/N: Happy New Year's, everyone! I'm sorry for the long gap between updates. I've been busy with work and family for a while (plus procrastination) so I hope this makes up for it. As always, tell me what you think about it and I'll get to writing the next chapter soon! Cheers!_**


	8. Calm Intrigue

The generic cheery chimes and jingles of a morning talk show blared from the speakers of a large monitor screen, complete with a bright coloured title-card. On-screen, two women—one of them having wings on her back in a tengu-outfit—sat across each other on separate couches with a small table adorned with mugs of coffee.

" _Hello and good morning, everyone!"_ said the wingless woman with a professional smile. " _I am Mika Sugiyama, and this is my co-host, Saya Shameimaru, and welcome to the 7:30 Breakfast Show! Bringing to you only the freshest of updates to start your day! So, Shameimaru, what's the story for today?"_

 _"I'm glad you asked!",_ the one known as Shameimaru answered. _"For today's topic, we are going to talk about the recent villain attack on the USJ, a UA High training facility."_

 _"Oh dear! That's what every news outlet's been reporting yesterday! What a horrid thing, that was! So, what are we going to discuss? Knowing you, it's probably going to be something that hasn't been covered yet by any of the major outlets!"_

 _"Indeed, Sugiyama, indeed! And what I'm bringing to you viewers today comes straight from reliable insider information!"_

 _"Really now? Our closest competitors know little to nothing about the details of the attack. What could you possibly have that is exclusive?"_

 _"Heheh. True, even I know little about what went down on that day. But! I do know something about the mastermind behind this so-called 'League of Villains', Shigaraki Tomura!"_

 _"Eh?! Really?!"_

 _"Really! Last night, the leader of the villains, who was reported to have been knocked unconscious by one of the heroes that arrived to help that day, had finally woken up and is now currently undergoing preparations to be sent to one of the high-security prisons in the country._

 _"Earlier today, mugshots of the villain have been circulating online after being leaked by an anonymous source and that is what we're going to show you today."_

The screen then showed two pictures of an unmasked Shigaraki, clad in prison garb.

 _"Oh my, Shameimaru! He looks like he's in serious need of some lip balm! Those are some chaffed lips, I tell you!"_

 _"Yes, yes,"_ Shameimaru replied with some annoyance. _"However, you're not wrong in starting off with his looks as that is what had spurred the internet into a frenzy! But not for chaffed lips._

 _"Many people on various online forums and message boards, most prominently the infamous 0-chan, have pointed out the villain's uncanny similarity with the late Nana Shimura, a former Pro Hero whose heroic sacrifice against the world's most notorious villain, All for One, paved the way for the hard-fought peace our heroes have worked for. Thanks to her valiant efforts, we now have a hero like All Might that has since fulfilled her legacy of bringing about long-lasting peace to our citizens with a smile, having defeated All for One once and for all._

 _"Now, a moment of silence to honour this proud hero."_

Both commentators said nothing for a few seconds, looking wistful.

 _"That being said,"_ Sugiyama began, breaking the silence. _"This attack on the school, regardless of success, could it be a sign that villains are now growing bolder? Surely it would inspire some others lurking in the shadows to do the same, won't it?"_

 _"You have a point there, Sugiyama but I think the failure of the attack would inform would-be villains that such an attempt is futile although the school's reputation will without doubt take a hit. In any case, it does bring up an interesting question: What would happen to the peace once the Symbol of Peace passes away? There will come a day when All Might would no longer be around to maintain the current state of peace we have today and our best candidate to step up to the role is unfortunately Endeavour."_

 _"Oh my…"_

 _"Yeah… Well, to further our discussion on this issue, we'd like to welcome Deputy Minister of Heroic Security, Josuke Higashikata to the stage—"_

 _Click._

The large screen went dark with a resounding click of a button followed by a menacing hum from the near-faceless figure that held the remote. The only visible features on the figure's face were his mouth; the rest of his face being comprised of scar tissue. He donned a slick business suit and had pipes sticking out of his neck and jaw. He rested his chin on his hand with an amused grin.

"Interesting..." he mused. He then reached for his radio communicator and pressed a button.

 _"Sir,"_ came a voice from the communicator. _"Preparations are all done according to plan. Should we proceed with the plan?"_

"Proceed," he commanded with a deep resonant voice. "The earlier we retrieve them, the better. Their return is essential in securing our influence with the other villains."

Pausing for a moment, he remembered what his protégé told him about an odd incident during his mission to get information about the school a few days ago. Something about an individual with an incredibly interesting Quirk that could be of use to obtain.

"Once you're done executing the plan, send someone to infiltrate the school to be on the lookout for a person with an unusual Quirk."

" _Unusual...sir…?"_

"Yes. Unusual. There's a possibility this individual has a Quirk that can help speed up our plans considerably. Find this person and recruit them to our cause. _By any means necessary._ "

" _Yes, sir."_

With that, the communicator buzzed into silence, leaving the figure to his own devices. The light bubbling of a coffee machine filled the air of the dim room he resided in.

"If this Quirk is what I think it is," he said to himself with a grin. "No matter how unlikely it is, if it really is there, I will be…

"Unstoppable."

* * *

Izuku shivered a little as he felt a cold sensation creep up his spine. Probably something bad about to happen. Then again, he already had an amusing start to his day by having to explain to his mother about his Stand while trying to keep her from passing out at the sight of the Stand's aggressive expression. It was funny yet also a bit exhausting because he had to convince her that King Crimson was not—despite its features—a malicious ghost but an extension of himself.

Speaking of extensions, Quirks were like extensions of the user's self, kind of like a limb. It occurred to him that he was now able to reach that level of being accustomed with his Stand whereas his mastery with One for All, the Quirk he was entrusted to inherit by his idol, was nowhere near that. Perhaps it had to do with how he thought about the Quirk? Diavolo told him that King Crimson responds to how you will it to do. Perhaps he could try the same with One for All? Maybe it isn't how he should be using it but how he should think about it instead?

Come to think of it, he had not used One for All at all since the training course with Bakugou. His body had also changed significantly in terms of build, so he would have to see how it would react to the self-destructive Quirk. Would it also affect his Stand?

Wait… _react?_

 _'Oh no! I just remembered my entire class had seen King Crimson!'_ he thought in a panic. _'What am I going to do?! How would they react to seeing me after knowing that? Oh man, oh man. It's ruined, all ruined! I'm going to be treated like an outcast again!'_

Before he knew it, he was already in front of the door to his classroom. He looked at his watch.

8:20am.

Another ten minutes before class started. He winced. Everyone was going to be in class now. As far as he was concerned, nobody in his class ever arrived late to school so now he would be setting foot into a potential landmine of awkward stares. With a heavy sigh, he mentally prepared himself for the eventual bombardment of questions and fearful glares as he slid the door open.

"Ah, Midoriya, right on time. Have a seat."

Great. Not only was everyone present but his homeroom teacher was also there looking like he was fresh out of the hospital, all covered in bandages and what not! He did not even bother lifting his gaze from the floor as he gave a mumbled reply before shuffling his way to his seat. The whole class was quiet, he could feel an intense concentration of stares pointed his way even though all the attention was focused on Aizawa.

"All right everyone, listen up! I have a few short announcements to make before we can proceed with lessons." He paused for a moment to shake his bandaged arm for a bit, probably an itch he could not scratch due to his current state.

"Um…Sensei…" the blonde Kaminari asked with a worried smile. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Can you really call that 'okay', though?" murmured Uraraka who appeared shocked.

"Don't you worry too much about me," the bandaged hero waved them off. "More importantly for you, the battle is not over yet."

"What?! Are the villains attacking again?!" squeaked the purple bubble-haired midget.

"Battle?" muttered Bakugou, who appeared a tad too calm for Izuku's comfort.

The whole class then snapped shut when they saw Aizawa slowly unwrap the bandages covering his eyes, giving them a serious glare.

"The UA Sports Festival is coming up, boys and girls!"

A collective sigh of relief and joy was heard.

"Oh right! This is a school!"

"Man, a sports festival!" said the spiky red-head, Kirishima with a fist in the air. "I keep forgetting that this a normal school!"

"Damn right, my man!" Kaminari jumped in. "With all this craziness happening lately, it's almost like a shonen manga setting!"

"Wait!" chimed the class VP, Yaoyorozu. "Will it be alright, though? Wouldn't it be a huge risk to take after the school's infiltration? How can we know that all bases are covered?"

"Good question. On the contrary, the fact that we're going ahead with the festival shows that the school is confident in keeping its ducks in a row when it comes to security and crisis control now. Not only that, since the villains responsible for the USJ attack were successfully apprehended, the public has a more confident outlook on the school; seeing it as a secure place to send their children to.

"Which brings me to my next announcement. Thank you, Yaoyorozu for the providing the nice platform for me to segue into."

Yaoyorozu blushed lightly at that statement, slightly embarrassed, narrowly missing what the teacher had to say next. Izuku, however, had a feeling that the chill he felt earlier had something to do with this announcement. As much as he'd like to find out in advance using Epitaph, he would rather avoid arousing suspicion especially in a full classroom.

"As you all know, the media has been told that the apprehension of the villains in the USJ incident were due to the timely arrival of the Pro-Heroes and the support and strength shown by the students. However, what we neglected to tell the press was that most of it could have been made possible if it were not for the actions of a single student."

Izuku paled at this. _'Oh no…'_

"I'm sure all of you know who I am referring to at this point, I have come here early specifically for the sole purpose of briefing you on this before the student in question arrived here."

 _'What?! Does this mean that…oh my god… Bakugou knows about it already?!'_ Izuku mentally blanched. _'That explains his eerie calm then…'_

"It was because of the apparent foresight that this student had that we managed to get in touch with the other Pro-Heroes in time and minimise the potential harm the villains could have done to you. It was also by his hand that the ringleader of the group was knocked out by."

A grim silence hung over the air, eliciting an involuntary gulp from Izuku. At least, it felt grim. He felt like shrinking when he noticed Bakugou's silent glare.

"Now, how about the student in question come up front to make my job easier?"

 _Crap._

With an awkward creak from his chair, he got up and made his way beside the bandaged hero. His eyes never left the floor until he felt the teacher give a light pat on his back and an uncharacteristic thumbs-up.

"Thank you, Midoriya, for cooperating with me because what I'd like you to do today is give a demonstration on how your second Quirk works."

 _Snap._

Izuku could not help but shiver at the sight of the broken pencil on the floor by Bakugou's desk. To, hopefully, make it less awkward for himself, he asked the homeroom teacher what he had briefed his classmates on.

"I've only given them what the school knows for now, Midoriya. Besides they already know the floating humanoid-part, so I filled them in with the additional info All Might gathered from his observations."

Izuku's eyes bulged, remembering Diavolo's interaction with All Might.

 _'Additional info from All Might?! Does that mean that they also know of Diavolo's existence?! Oh boy, I'm really in for it now.'_ He cleared his throat before asking him for details, careful not to let his surprise show any more than he lets on, "And what info might that be, Aizawa-sensei?"

The bandaged hero only gave him a shrug. "The part where you can erase time."

"That's so cool!"

Kirishima pumped his fist in the air with a look of awe. Seeing his reaction made Izuku feel less anxious of what was to come next. Possibly.

"But, we can only know so much from mere observation so why don't you provide an explanation yourself?" said Aizawa before stepping aside and bringing out a pad and pencil, giving a clear signal to Izuku to what he had to do.

He took a deep breath to calm his nerves. He looked around and saw that many of his classmates—barring Bakugou—were all waiting his bated breath as though they were containing their intrigue and enthusiasm in finding out. Before he could open his mouth however, Aizawa cut him off with a quick reassurance.

"I've already sworn them all to secrecy on this matter, Midoriya, so don't you worry about privacy matters. Unless you decide to inform anyone to any level of degree, everything that you say will remain in this room and on classified school records."

The green-haired teen was not sure whether he should feel relieved, sad or scared. On one hand, only his classmates would know about King Crimson and the classification of this knowledge by the school would prevent it from being made known to potential villains. On the other hand, it also made him feel excluded from his friends, like he was some special individual with preferential treatment. He did not want them to feel as alienated from him as he was with them.

Seeing the nod of approval from Aizawa, he took a deep breath again. Scanning the room, he then opened his mouth and summoned King Crimson, the livid red humanoid phasing into existence contrasting the timid teen standing in front of the class.

"Hello everyone, as you may know already, this is my second Quirk: King Crimson."

 **xxx**

"…and that's is all that I know for now. Any questions?" said Izuku with a smile. His anxiety, fears and doubts melted away when he went into full detail on King Crimson's abilities including Epitaph. He even went out of his way to draw diagrams to help explain the process of time erasure and how it would look like from a bystander's point of view. It was fun to watch the looks of confusion and feigned understanding when he explained, especially during the 'film-reel' analogy. By the end of it, even Bakugou appeared interested, as though his hatred for him was momentarily forgotten for their mutual thirst for knowledge.

Rows of hands shot up. He could not help but smile at the genuine interest they had. Since Uraraka was one of his closest friends, he picked her first. Again, why did she look like she was about to laugh?

"Deku!" said the bubbly girl while stifling her giggles. "What _is_ that tiny face on that thing's face?!" She then proceeded to laugh her lungs out.

King Crimson appeared to react to that statement as it leered at the laughing girl. Unfortunately for it, it only made her giggle even more.

"Oh, that?" he answered with a giggle of his own. "That's Epitaph. He's just kinda there. He allows me to see up to ten seconds into the future. After that, I can't use it for ten seconds. Next!"

"Did you name your Quirk and the small face after the band and the song they made?" asked Kyouka, her eyes glaring at the green-haired Stand user.

"Uh…yes," he answered, careful not to accidentally blurt out Diavolo's hand in that.

"I see, so you're a person of culture as well."

She sat down, looking pleased and enlightened.

"Midoriya!" shouted Iida shortly after, the bespectacled student practically shooting up from his desk. "This foresight of yours, Epitaph, as you call it, is that what allowed you plan so far ahead? Was that why you insisted on me running off to get help so early on?"

Izuku gave a slight nod.

"I am so sorry for not having enough trust in you when you have a lot of trust in us!"

"It's fine, it's fine," Izuku waved off, embarrassed. "If it were anyone else whose Quirks I knew were perfect for the job, I'd still enlist their help without a doubt because I believe in all of you."

"That's very kind of you to say, Midoriya, but how do we know that the person standing in front of us is actually Midoriya?"

Tsuyu's blank stare bore holes into his soul, his heart racing fast. A lucky break came when Iida reprimanded her for her outlandish (yet not wrong) remark.

"Tsuyu! What exactly do you mean by this? We were all scared that day and an unexpected change in behaviour is to be expected!"

The descendant of the Tenya clan sounded confident. The sweat on his forehead said otherwise.

"You say that now, Iida, but what I've seen that day was terrifying. When he knocked out the ringleader, it was almost like the Izuku Midoriya we knew was gone!

"Instead, in his place, was a ruthless being. His eyes, his expression, the force in which he delivered the blow; those weren't that of a hero, it was like an executioner dispatching a criminal without remorse!"

"It's true!" Minetta butted in. "He was super scary, guys! When we were down there tending to Aizawa-sensei, he kept talking to himself, you know? It was super creepy!"

"Isn't that his usual habit of muttering to himself?" Uraraka refuted, her brows furrowing.

"No, you don't understand. When he mutters, it's usually some sort of deep analytical breakdown. But that day…it was like he was talking to someone else. It might have been my irrationality acting up, but I could've sworn I heard that he nearly killed someone that day."

Several shocked gasps could be heard, prompting Aizawa to lean forward.

"Or maybe he has!" Minetta added.

"No, it's not like that!" Izuku protested. "Not like that at all!"

"Then explain yourself!"

Izuku was at a loss. He wracked his brain trying to figure out the best way to explain this without giving Diavolo away. Every second that passes in silence was another two seconds of allowing the murky cloud of doubt to flood. His eyes scanned the room and locked on to the only person whose Quirk is somewhat similar to his: Tokoyami. An idea was already forming.

"It's like how Tokoyami can converse with his Quirk, Dark Shadow! King Crimson, while he doesn't visibly speak, does communicate with me…in my head, I guess? Not sure what the term is for that but yeah, it's sort of like that."

He felt a bit of relief when he saw Tokoyami nod in understanding along with several others, allowing him to move on to address the other part of the allegations: the eavesdropped conversation.

"As for the part where Tsuyu claimed I was talking to King Crimson about killing someone, yes. Regrettably, I almost killed someone with my Quirk."

"I knew it!" Minetta chimed. "I knew we couldn't trust this guy! The innocent patch of grass we all know is gone and an identical copy replaced him!"

"Shut the hell up!" barked Bakugou, surprising everyone. "You keep that up and I wish he was the murderer you think he is!"

"Bakugou…" Izuku blurted, his tone shaky at the unexpected kindness from his childhood friend-turned-bully.

"Don't get me wrong, Deku: You're still a damn worthless pebble to me!" Bakugou snapped. "But, what I hate even more is denying a person their right to defend themselves! Look at you, purple diaper, so quick to throw the guy that hauled your sorry ass under the bus all because of what, he nearly killed someone? Cry me a river! Batman nearly kills criminals for a living and Gotham is peaceful for it!"

"Uh, Bakugou? I'm pretty sure Batman is an old comic book character."

"Shut up, discount Pikachu! I know what I'm talking about!"

"…right. So, Izuku, you were saying?"

The green-haired teen gave a nod and told everyone about what he saw in the erased time on that day. It became evident that the longer he went on, the more solemn he got. He poured his heart out, every word and every sentence carrying a weight that no teen should be carrying. It was an unreal yet harrowing feeling that he was emitting to his fellows, especially to those in question, when he described in detail the condition in which he found the bodies of Tsuyu and Minetta in the realm of erased time.

Not a single person blamed him for giving in to his anger, no matter how wrong it was.

He was young and so were his peers. All were in this esteemed establishment to receive a first-class education in being a saviour, not being the helpless saved. For him, who did not have anybody he could truly call a friend until he came here, it must have been devastating.

"Oh…wow…" was all Tsuyu could mutter. "Midoriya…I'm sorry I…didn't know that…"

"It's okay, Tsuyu, it's okay. All that matters is that you're alive. Same goes for you, Minetta."

"Man…" blurted Kirishima, looking sober. "Guess those villains weren't messing around huh…"

"No, they were not," stated Aizawa, gesturing to Izuku to return to his seat. "Which is why I made it a point that you take your studies and your Quirks seriously during your physical tests. Actual villains won't take it easy on you just because you feel like you needed a chance. There are no chances: only your skill and your wit.

"That being said, I do realise that I don't have much time left so I'll make this quick. You have two more weeks to prepare for the UA school festival. Use that time wisely. Feel free to ask your class president more about his Quirk but do remember what I briefed you on earlier."

He then shuffled towards the door, sliding it open. However, just before he left, his eyes lit up and peeked around the door. "Oh, I almost forgot! Midoriya!"

"Y-y-y-yes!" Izuku stammered, looking like a lost squirrel.

"Come see me tomorrow after school."

With that, he left the classroom in a hurry. As he paced down the hallway towards his office, he whipped his notepad and examined the notes he made. Then, upon reaching his desk, he fished out a document All Might sent a few days ago when he first made contact with the boy's intriguing Quirk. He compared his notes with All Might's document.

The words, [ **Unidentified Second Quirk** ] and [ **Stand** ], stood out to him in the document along with the old dusty book on pre-Quirk powers that All Might lent to him. He circled those words with a red pen and snapped the book open, skimming through the chapters until he came upon the one with a seemingly innocuous image of a few children playing by a rock formation in an open grassy field. Nothing about it stood out. He flipped a few pages back and found more graphic and clear images of a battle between these 'Stand' users and its aftermath. One image in particular jumped out at him.

An image of a deceased red-headed Japanese teenager with a hole in his torso, water and blood flowing through it from the water tower where authorities found his body.

Aizawa has had his fair share of dishing out hits as well as receiving them, his bandages being a testament to yesterday's battle. He knew it took a lot of force to slug a punch that could stagger an average person. A lot more to send them flying like most augmentation-based Quirk users do with All Might being a good example of that. Yet, to imagine what monstrous power it took to penetrate the human body in a single punch…these 'Stands' were not to be trifled with.

The image also struck to him as odd. What was a Japanese teenager doing in Egypt and why? Why is he in school uniform and why was there very little media coverage of these 'Stand' battles aside from the rare photograph and news clippings of strange occurrences that were present during that period of time.

Skimming through the chapter on the subject, he noted that the Egypt incident, while the most well-known and the best documented, was not the only one of its kind. While the rest of the examples given had little to no photographic evidence, the newspaper clippings were a tell-tale sign that these 'Stands' had been involved and their powers were not limited to their bodies.

A string of disappearances spanning a decade in a small town in Japan in the 90s along with a slew of bizarre happenings; a mysterious sudden mass death in Rome caused by an unknown flesh-eating mold; a prison pastor found dead by the base of a rocket in Cape Canaveral in 2012 with numerous witness accounts of time appearing to pass by faster than normal and conspiracy theories about gravity manipulation technology; all appear to point towards the supposed 'villains' who had this power.

What of the 'heroes', then?

These findings had solidified his initial assumption that 'Stands' have unexplainable broken powers, but it did not answer how they came to be. What sort of catalyst was needed for one to have this pre-Quirk era power? Quirks themselves were mysterious enough on their own even with extensive scientific study and the best they could come up with was checking for an extra bone in your toe.

It made no sense at all to assume that this bone was a sure-fire indicator of a person's ability to have a Quirk, but people love correlation even if it had little causal evidence. Sure, the majority of the people who had Quirks had this bone but why then has nothing special been found when examining it? It had a marrow and was solid, just like the rest of the bones in a skeleton.

Could it be that these Stands were a pre-cursor to Quirks? It was plausible but until he could find out more about Stands, he had to take every possibility into consideration. Midoriya, up until the Hero Exam, was registered as Quirkless. It was possible that he might have lied about it but his interaction with Bakugou said otherwise.

He checked his watch. It was almost time for him to go to his next class to teach.

So far, he gathered that these Stand users, while their battles were either destructive or highly discreet, must have had a good grasp at controlling their powers. After all, from what he heard earlier in class, Midoriya managed to use his Stand to safely dispatch Shigaraki despite it piercing through the Noumu in a single strike not long prior.

Then there was the issue of the boy's mental health.

What he had seen and done was something only a hero under duress would experience. He might look fine now but there may be a time when the trauma resurfaces.

He gathered his things and put the book away in a drawer in his desk before heading off to educate some brats.

Hopefully, when he meets the boy tomorrow, he would not have to expel him for the safety of his peers.

* * *

"Man, that was quite intense!"

Kaminari stretched his arms as he returned to his seat. Lunch break had just ended so there were only a few people present in 1-A.

"No kidding. That was a bit much for me to process," said Kirishima. He was lounging by his desk along with Bakugou and the lanky Sero. Handa Sero, while not the most talkative of people next to Midoriya, found himself comfortable in the company of such brash talkers. He, like many in the class, were shaken by this new Quirk that their class president had two Quirks and a wholly unknown one too.

"Yeah, same here," he added. "Still though, erasing time… Where do you even begin to wrap your head around that? I mean, time is immaterial and therefore cannot be destroyed. But, erasing?"

"Dude, no. That's just too much theoretical nonsense in there that I do not want to touch with a ten-foot pole even if I harden my entire body. What's your take on this, man?"

"Hm."

Kaminari held his chin for a moment while Bakugou appeared to be disinterested as he was staring out the window. His ears were perked up, though.

"I agree with you to an extent, Kirishima my good friend, as I cannot fathom how time can be in a state of non-existence. That being said, I do believe that time can be manipulated in the sense that one could use it travel into the future, the past or explore multiple probabilities that can be brought upon with a change in decision.

It is highly likely that the realm of 'erased time' that Midoriya enters upon activating King Crimson is one that actually removes the [ **cause** ] of any undesirable action. Since we've all agreed that the very idea of time erasure makes little to no sense, any change to this cause will result in anyone and anything acting out in a predetermined [ **effect** ] as it does not sense this change. This then ends up in the feeling that something had skipped, thus the mistaken assumption that time had been erased."

A beat of silence hung in the air. Kirishima, Sero and even Bakugou stared blankly at Kaminari, who was now looking very confused. The three listeners looked at each other, then back at him, then turned back to each other and back at him again.

They then nodded in an unspoken agreement.

 _'Midoriya's muttering has spread!'_ was what they all thought but none dared to voice their opinion on the matter-

"Kaminari, you sounded a lot like Deku for a moment there!"

-Until now.

 _'Uraraka!'_

They felt their collective burden be lifted from their shoulders thanks to Uraraka's sudden giggly exclamation.

"Eh?! Really?!"

Kaminari flustered a little, rubbing his hair for a while but went back to his 'wannabe-cool-guy' attitude after a minute.

"Guess he's beginning to rub off on me, huh?"

"Haha! Kind of!"

"Hey guys! What's up with all the fuss?"

They turned to the door to find Kyouka greeting them with a wave along Tsuyu and Mina.

"Eh, not much," replied Kaminari. "They were just talking about how I was pulling a 'Deku' earlier."

"What do you—"

"He went full on mutter-lecture, man!", Kirishima exclaimed.

The three newcomers' eyes grew wide with shock. They then turned to Uraraka who was then confused by this.

"Um…why are you looking at me like that?"

Their gazes were not one of malice but of concern. It was as though they were wanting to defend the corruption of a pillar of innocence.

"Uraraka, do you usually spend much time with Midoriya?", asked Kyouka, breaking the silence.

The gravity manipulator's hair immediately puffed up and her cheeks grew pink as she stammered, "W-w-what do you mean?"

"What I mean is do you usually talk to him?"

"Oh! R-right," she answered, sighing. "I walk together with him and Iida whenever possible after school and we have lunch in a group too."

The three interrogators glanced at each other and then at the boys who were listening in. They then nodded in unison.

"Uraraka, it is for best of your interests that you minimise contact with him from now on."

"Eeeeeh?!"

Uraraka glared at them half-surprised, half-flabbergasted. "Why?!"

Mina answered, in a serious and solemn tone that betrayed the glint in her eye, "Because we have every reason to believe that his prominent trait might spread to you."

"I see."

Everyone present into snapped their heads in shock. Their shock grew into fingers that gripped their hearts with inexplicable shame and guilt as they stared at the class president, who had actually been by the open door the whole time, silently walk away.

Kaminari and Kyouka, who were the first to shake off their shock, dashed out to explain the whole thing to Midoriya but it was too late:

As soon as they saw him descending the staircase, they suddenly found themselves at the foot of the staircase.

* * *

 _ **A/N: Hey there! I know the previous chapter had diverged greatly from the canon by having Shigaraki be arrested but this is the point where the divergence becomes more prominent. Tell me what you think about it and I'll respond accordingly! I would like to thank those who have stuck with this story and those who have left feedback as your support is what keeps me going.**_

 _ **To Lawless, your thoughts on future chapters are eerily similar to my own that I am tempted to go completely against them and subvert them. XD**_

 _ **Just kidding. Seriously though, they're so similar that I wonder if you would've written this very same story if I hadn't done it first. In any case, it's fun reading your ideas and thoughts. They're highly appreciated.**_


	9. Something About Clouds and Silver

Stunned. Heartbroken. Angry. Livid. Scared.

Emotions were running high yet the only expression that showed was one of blankness. He had been walking back to class with Uraraka when he bumped into a woman he had never seen before. The woman was tall and had a nicely cut figure with slick red hair that matched her business suit well. He did not think too much about it and promptly apologised several times before catching up to Uraraka. He did, however, had to stop for a moment as he suddenly felt something inside him (or Diavolo) screaming at him to stay from the man at all costs.

He was not sure why but since he did not want to keep Uraraka waiting, he thought nothing of it. It was when he was about to reach the classroom entrance that he heard someone say:

"Uraraka, do you usually spend much time with Midoriya?"

His ears perked up, his heart grinded to a slow tense beat. He silently walked up to the entrance and saw Uraraka looking flustered at her seat while Kyouka, Mina and Tsuyu standing in front of the class. At the back of the class were Bakugou, Kirishima, Kaminari and Sero. They seemed to have their attention focused on the exchange the girls were having.

 _'I wonder what's this about?'_ he wondered. He then noticed the flush red face on Uraraka then turned to the girls. Taking note of the other boys' intense focus as well, he attempted to put two and two together. Then, he blushed.

 _'D-d-do they think Uraraka and I a-a-are dating?! W-wait, no! It's not like that We're just f-f-friends! What are you talking about? N-no, it's nothing!'_

"W-w-what do you mean?!" came Uraraka's stammered response, causing his heart to jump.

 _'Oh boy, please let it be something else!'_

"What I mean is do you usually talk to him?"

He sighed, his lungs relaxing as they released the air they unknowingly held. _'Not out of the woods yet but luckily it's not direct. I mean, we do talk to each other quite often and she does like to walk home with me. That's just what good friends do, right?'_

 _Izuku._

 _'Yes?'_

 _You would have been a good replacement for the concrete I poured in barrels._

 _'Why?'_

 _Think about my former profession and use that analytical brain of yours to figure it out._

 _'…'_

 _Well?_

 _'An additional body makes the barrel heavier thus making it sink faster?'_

 _…forget I ever asked._

He shrugged and resumed his silent observation of the classroom. He clicked his tongue as his back and forth with Diavolo caused him to miss Uraraka's response, but he noted that her interrogators appeared to have come to an unspoken consensus as they met each other's eyes and nodded in unison.

Then came the words that led to his current torrent of emotional turmoil:

"Uraraka, it is for the best of your interests that you minimise contact with him from now on."

Why? Why? Why?! What happened to the embarrassing couple accusations?! He would rather have Uraraka confess on the spot than this! A dozen possibilities flew through his mind, each providing some semblance of an answer. Remembering Tsuyu's presence there, suddenly all was clear.

She must have convinced them to stay away from him and now they were trying to get Uraraka to do the same. Convince his friend to alienate him. She was the one who first voiced doubt, wasn't it? During his impromptu Q&A? Waves roiled in his heart as one half that believed in his friends struggled for supremacy over another whose dark waters of distrust, doubt and insecurities fought the opposing current. However, at the point of intersection, both agreed upon one thing:

 ** _You are not welcome here._**

"I see."

The words came out void of life yet laden with weight as he slunk away from the classroom. What was he thinking anyway? That they were all going to accept him straight away? Of course not. People were not like that. Their airs of friendliness and camaraderie would disappear as soon as something they did not like appeared.

Just like how Kacchan and his other friends made his life miserable when they found out he was Quirkless.

However, in this torrent of emotions, there were also elements that felt foreign to him yet came with an unnatural ease. Betrayal, hatred, vengefulness; they made him feel cold and it scared him. Kacchan may have bullied him for years but he had never once thought of beating him within an inch of his life. Tsuyu was justified in her fears and cautiousness around him but yet he felt utter betrayal of trust.

What was happening to him? Was this an effect of his soul merging with Diavolo's? He tried calling out to him, but he was eerily silent. Then he heard the frantic footsteps of his classmates running after him. They must be trying to convince him that he had it all wrong or maybe tell him to disappear. In any case, he could not afford to face them.

Not like this.

His emotions were too strong for him to be able to listen to them with a cool head. So, he summoned King Crimson and entered the realm of erased time and ran back up the flights of stairs as far as his Stand's limits could allow. As he ran, he came across the figures of Kaminari and Kyouka, frozen within his realm.

He could not bear to look at them for more than a moment and kept running. Anguished hot tears hung from his eyelids as he glanced back at them. He noted that they looked sad, regret etched into their faces. Was it regret for saying the wrong thing or was it for letting their true intentions slip? He shook his head and recalled his Stand, erasing the full ten seconds.

Ten seconds was a lot of time for anything to happen so the chances of a person noticing the missing gap was very high, so he went straight to the roof of the school. There should not be a single soul on a rooftop and the resulting confusion would buy him extra time alone.

Yet, right there, in the middle of the flat concrete, lay the resting figure of a student with purple hair.

* * *

 _'The clouds look beautiful as always.'_

A smile crept on his face as his tired eyes trailed the drifting clouds. How peaceful it was to clear your mind as you let your worries wash away by the calm silence. There were no eyes to judge him, no words to hurt him and no one to remind him about the unfair reality that was the society of heroes.

He had always wanted to become a hero, but the nature of his Quirk led everyone to believe that he was more suited to be a villain instead. Thus, when the entrance exams came around he thought that it was his moment of redemption, the moment to prove his old classmates that they were wrong. Unfortunately, battle robots and brainwashing were not the best of matchups and thus he wound up taking General Studies.

Anger swelled in his heart for a moment as he recalled the arrogance of those in the Hero department.

The sneers thrown at those who they deem were beneath them, the mocking jeers and taunts; he pretended to ignore them as he went on with his day.

The soft crunching of concrete dust behind him stirred him out of his thoughts, sobering him up. He wanted to get up and face this person who had intruded into his special place but then he remembered that the school's rooftop was a public area. It made sense that there might be some other students who wanted to clear their minds up here and he was not going to stop them.

After all, if he kicked them out due to the selfish desire to have the place all to himself, he would be no different than the entitled schmucks in the Hero course. However, he felt it too awkward to greet this visitor behind him head-on. If this person just wanted to clear their head like he was, wouldn't striking up a conversation ruin the mood? But if he flat-out ignored them, then they might think that he was being rude. Ah, what should he do?!

"Um, am I intruding?"

Yes! Thank you, person he had never met before for initiating the conversation! Now he can easily adapt to the situation and-

"Sorry…you seem to be deep in thought. I'll just go now."

 _'Eh?'_

The sound of slow shuffling feet made it into his ears.

 _'EHHHHHHH?! They're leaving already?! Was it something I said? No, I didn't say anything. Did I take too long to respond? Damnit! I mean, I_ did _want you to go away earlier because I kind of wanted to be alone, but you don't have to leave me like that! You're making me feel bad now!'_

His heart was racing as he tried to think of a way to salvage this social interaction. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead with every step this unknown person took.

 _'Alright, calm down, calm down. You're panicking because you haven't had the chance to socialise before. People were either being dicks or afraid of your Quirk. Come on, get it together! Just say something normal to stop them from leaving. You know, something a normal person would say.'_

"Where do you think you're going?" he said with a calm cool tone. "I never told you to leave, didn't I? Come, stay."

"Oh, okay!"

 _'What the heck was that?!_ "Where do you think you're going?" _That sounds like something an anime character would say! And what was tone too?! Jeez, now this person might think I'm a goddamn degenerate trying to sound cool!'_

His anxiety only grew as the silence between them stewed. He could only imagine that this person, who he had just convinced to stay, staring at his resting figure was also trying to figure out what to say. He really wanted to stand up and greet them but since he had established the 'wannabe-cool' persona by accident, he felt obligated to stay in character.

"So, uh, what brings you up here?" he asked, maintaining the uninterested tone from earlier. The urge to tilt his head back to see was strong but his avoidance of awkwardness was stronger.

"Not much," the person behind him sighed. "Just needed to get away for a bit, y'know? Put things back together in the noggin."

A light breeze of empathy touched him upon hearing his (he was pretty sure the person was a 'he' by now) answer. So, this person came here for the same reason, huh?

"I know that feeling, man. Sometimes, people can be too overwhelming, and you just need some space."

"True, that is true. But at times, it hurts. It's like, when you've tried all your life to have the things that people expect kids to have like friends and outings to the arcade or hanging out at cafes only to be denied any of it because you don't have a power, or your power is weird. The loneliness can be unbearable."

His mouth opened to reply but he could not find the words. _'Damn, that got heavy quick. I thought he was just a guy who wanted to relax up here. Well, he is. What am I even saying? Granted, I came up here for almost the same reasons as him but still, to think that someone else was feeling the same way…'_

"Ah, sorry! I didn't mean to burden you with my woes!" blurted the person behind him.

"Don't worry about it. It's just that…those woes are some that I share too." He then stood up but did not turn around. "Normally I won't tell this to anyone but since you seem to have people problems related to your Quirk, I feel that this is the right moment to share this to you. Just so that you feel a bit better."

"A-ah, that's, uh, you don't have to—"

"My Quirk brainwashes people. Scary, right? Throughout my life, anyone I've come across who finds out about it either avoids me or tells me to give up on being a hero. Because brainwashing is unethical, right? Only a villain has such an evil Quirk, right? Well I see goddamn Bakugou blowing shit up with his Quirk and I don't see anyone throwing the 'villain' card at him! Hell, he even has the rotten personality to match too!"

"Well—"

"And I wouldn't be wrong to say that most of the people in the Hero course are horrible human beings, if I could call them that. I mean, they're glory hounds, the lot of them. Blessed with powers that make them 'hero material' and suddenly they think those with less powerful Quirks are beneath them. If the current hero market is of any indication, people like Bakugou are the most likely candidates for the top internships because 'power' equals 'heroism' all of a sudden.

"To think that these disgusting people are what represent 'justice' these days… What of the people who have Quirks and want to contribute to society in their own way, huh? Don't they deserve to be heroes too?"

 _Ding dong ding dong._

 _'Crap. I got too carried away with my rant and I totally wasted this guy's time up here. I bet all I did was make his feelings worse. With all that angry talk of heroes and what not? Wait, what if he was in the Hero course and he was being picked on? Aw man, I would have really messed up. I cut him off too.'_

"Well, I guess it's time to back to class," the person behind him said, bringing him back to reality.

"Heh, guess so."

He was about to turn around to head towards the staircase when the person continued to speak.

"Also, about your Quirk, I think that you could become a great hero in your own right."

He raised a brow at this.

"What do you mean?"

"You know how Eraserhead operates right? Even though his Quirk allows him to erase the Quirks of others to an extent, he is pretty much Quirkless in terms of strength. He makes up for it by incorporating martial arts into his fighting style. As for you, I think you'd be suited for missions where stealth and discretion are required. Think about it! With a Quirk like yours, you could easily infiltrate a terrorist compound to save hostages with minimal casualties.

"And that, I think, is where you can really shine!"

He swung around, wide-eyed as he tried to comprehend the words this stranger was telling him. He was met with a gentle smile and a tuft of green hair.

"Y-you…you're…!"

"Yeah, I'm 'Hero course scum', right?" said Izuku with a laugh. "Don't worry about it, I know it was nothing personal."

The green-haired teen then disappeared into the school stairwell. But just before he set foot into it, he asked him one question, "What's your name? It'd be awkward to meet up with a friend and not know their name."

In that moment, the smile thrown his way appeared to shine. He then shook his head, grinned and looked at Izuku with his tired purple eyes.

"Hitoshi Shinsou. Pleased to meet you."

* * *

 ** _A/N: Shortest chapter yet, folks! Don't worry, the current 'arc' doesn't end here. If anything, there's more to it than meets the eye. What significance does Shinsou have? Who was that unknown woman? Will the misunderstandings be resolved or go full on 'GAMERS!'?  
Find out more next...uh, time(?)_**


	10. The Woman from Roma

**_-_** _22nd April 2XXX-_

The soft hum of the air-conditioner was drowned by the tip-tapping of keys being punched by nimble fingers. Sharp green eyes scanned the screen in front of them, making sure every word was spelt correctly and no error left unchecked. With a flick of the wrist, the Enter key was hit and the document was sent. A sigh of relief could be heard as she slumped into the swivel chair that had been her seat for the past 5 hours. She could now rest easy knowing that the legal documentation for her client had been edited to perfection.

Work had always kept her busy. Given her position which pretty much set her office on the 77th floor of the main tower complex, it was part of the whole package. She swung her swivel chair to face the large borderless window of her office to stare at the hustle and bustle of Roma down below.

How beautiful it was to see the lights of automobiles dance in the highways and the clear starry night sky. Then, a soft knock on the door came followed by a meek creak.

"Oh, Miss Una!" said a gentle voice. "Doing overtime again?

She turned and smiled at the middle-aged woman that stood by her door in blue overalls, cleaning cart in tow. "Afraid so, Madam. I've just finished up here so don't you worry. I won't be here to impede your cleaning duties any further!"

"Oh, you're too polite as always, Miss Una!" the cleaner chuckled. "I'm not as important in the grand scheme of things. You help manage the company and go beyond the call of duty! All I do is clean and deliver the offices away from filth."

Both Miss Una and the cleaning lady shared a laugh at that. However, their laughter felt silent as the cleaner uttered a phrase with solemn gravity:

"The sun has fallen."

Miss Una's eyes narrowed, her green pupils glowing a faint emerald as she fixed her glasses. "How?"

"I'm afraid the details were not made clear, Miss Una. All I know is that all heirs had perished and that I'm supposed to hand this to you." The cleaning lady pulled out a crisp red envelope from a pocket in overalls. "Read it once I leave this room. After that, head to the airport."

"Understood," she declared. "May the Lord be merciful."

Giving her a solemn nod, the cleaning lady stepped out of the office and clicked the door shut. She remained motionless until her ears could no longer hear the humble rumble of the cleaning cart before pulling out a lighter from her suit's breast-pocket. It was one made of silver and had a crest of intricate design etched onto its body. It felt heavy in her hands despite being hollow. A brilliant golden flame sparked to life and it engulfed the red envelope in a matter of seconds, leaving behind a fine pile of soot.

May the devil be found and sent back to where he belongs.

* * *

- _Present Day-_

"Oof! I'm s-s-sorry about that!"

The darkened Italian skies changed to that of a bright school corridor with a thump. It was not a painful one, but it was enough to nearly make her lose her footing. Right in the gut too. Suspecting that it was a passing student, she waved it off with a "It's fine." It was an accident and it was somewhat her fault for being too lost in thought to notice. But, the apologies kept coming, becoming a gradual stuttering mess as the kid's head became a green blur with each bow. She had to stifle a giggle at the boy's expense to avoid increasing the intensity of his apologies.

After what seemed to be the tenth rushed 'sorry', the kid dashed off to wherever he was supposed to be going. She then let out a sigh, straightened out her suit and continued upstairs. _'The things I do for the family,'_ she thought as her brows furrowed. It would have been a lot easier if she could just sneak in and get the information but the damned gang of posers calling themselves 'The League of Villains' just had to attack the school head on and cause them to increase their already-high security. Alternatively, she could also go in loud, but the Family's and her own policies prioritises the guaranteed safety of the innocents. For now, she must meet the school's principal as the meek Makoto Tendo, the stand-in for the representative of the Ministry of Heroic Security who 'suddenly' could not make it today.

Poor guy seemed to have had a bad meal for breakfast. Good thing the newly-employed intern was there…

A small smile crept up as she then approached the principal's office. With a set of three firm knocks, a muffled voice ushered her to enter.

Before her was a tidy Japanese-oriented office complete with a tea set on a small coffee table. Two cups of tea steamed away on its surface, one of them held by a mouse/bear/dog thing wearing a nice suit.

"Have a seat, Miss Tendo," the strangely adorable thing known as Nedzu offered. Getting her mind into the character she created, she acted to be flustered and flopped into the couch opposite it.

"Care for a cup of tea?"

"A-ah, sure!" she replied as she sheepishly took the warm cup from the table. She then took a few sips and set it down on the table along with some compliments for added courtesy.

"Well, glad you liked the tea then because I believe what we'd be discussing might be very dry."

A chuckle echoed in her throat before being strangled as she was not sure if the talking animal was joking. "Of course. We're here to discuss the matters of Quirks, after all. Not much fun to be found there."

Nedzu chuckled before he seated himself to the couch facing her. "I'll agree with you there but as an educator, I find the chance to mould students with potential into functioning members of society with bright futures to be interesting. Here at U.A., we have professional staff who themselves are working heroes and the facilities and connections we have provide the students with the means and opportunities needed to advance forward."

 _'How professional,'_ she thought. There was no clear interest in the animal's inflection but that alone was not evidence of his lack genuine passion of the job. Not that she blamed him, government types can be tiring to deal with. It was also not a bad move to try and divert the conversation. While it was not the subtlest of topic changes, she appreciated the attempt. She was here to investigate a request from the school regarding a specific type of Quirk after all and it was rare enough to warrant the attention of the Minister of Heroic Security himself. The rat/cat/bear thing had every right to be wary.

Alas, it would take more than simple diversion to fool an enforcer of the Family. She reciprocated his chuckle with a weak smile and shifted around in her seat. "I-indeed, that is true, Principal Nedzu and there is no doubt in your dedication to the future of these children especially the prestige this school has. However, I do believe that I am here to look into a claim made by your school regarding a student with a Stand." The words, while uttered with a light-hearted, nervous lilt expected of an intern replacement of a member of the ministry, burst the bubble that held back the cold flood of tension, bringing the room to a chill despite it being in the middle of spring.

"Pardon?"

"A-ah, um, a Stand, sir, this meeting was for the student with the Stand, right?"

An involuntary shiver shot down her back as the principal said nothing. The smile remained, his eyes still bright and lively but she could not help but feel that the cute furry animal before her had begun to bare its fangs. It made her think back to her time scoping out the representative's office for information for this meeting. There was a note on his desk that made specific mention of the Stand so she could just form an alibi by claiming that they told her about it for briefing purposes. She was an intern and they need the info to make the job go smoothly.

But, why was she getting the feeling that her cover had been blown? Was it the sudden forwardness about the topic? She could claim anxiety and wave it off. She even made sure to make her voice waver when Nedzu questioned her earlier to appear doubtful.

"A Stand, you say? I'm pretty sure I set this meeting up to discuss security matters of the school regarding the USJ attack." Nedzu, as adorable as he was, never seemed so threatening as he was now. His eyes now seemed cold, his smile one that struck fear. She squirmed in her seat in an attempt to appear flustered.

"U-um, was it a mistake, sir? I'm s-so sorry if it was. I'm a bit new to this and the good man gave me a short debriefing before I came here." She made it a point to let her voice wobble within the limits of believability to emphasise her intended lack of experience.

"Really now?"

"Really."

"Are you sure about that?"

"…"

"Well?"

"…uh...um…yes?"

The clock's soft ticking seemed louder to her as the anxiety induced by the soulless voids staring at her grew. _Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock._ This was bad. Did she overlook something? A detail she missed when she was infiltrating the Ministry? Was it the note? _Click._ A bead of cold sweat rolled down the back of her neck, moistening the chilling metal cylinder that pressed firmly on it. With a playful grin, she let out a soft sigh and placed her hands on her lap. "It was the note, wasn't it?"

"I am afraid so, Miss Tendo." Nedzu then reciprocated her smile with his own, his penetrating gaze seemed to intensify by this development. Like a cog falling into place at just the right spot, at the right time in an elaborate machine. "Now, would you kindly raise your hands so that my colleague there can place you into cuffs?"

The pressure from the barrel of the gun pressed further into her skin. Looks like she would have to go loud after all. "Certainly, Principal Nedzu. However, seeing as how you managed to catch a person like me, a professional in this sort of intelligence gathering among other things, I'm curious. How did you did do it?"

"Well, a good magician never reveals his secrets," the mouse-bear thing taunted. "However, I am willing to let you in on something."

"Oh? And that is?"

A hoarse cough interrupted the two. "Is this going to take long, Nedzu? I've got students to teach in 15 minutes."

"Not to worry, Snipe, just a few sentences."

"Thank you."

Picking up his now lukewarm cup of tea, Nedzu took a sip while never breaking eye contact with this mouse that has fallen into his trap. "Where were we, Miss Tendo?"

"The part where—'

"The part where I was about to explain how I did it, of course! It was quite simple, really. Ever since we found out about this rare ability called a Stand in the possession of one of our students, especially one involved in an incident of significant risk, we have anticipated this possible threat to the student. So, to counteract this, we had already given a warning to the Ministry of Heroic Security to be on the lookout for possible spies."

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes but let a small yawn slip through. "Hey, not to be rude or anything but can you cut to the chase? Poor Snipe here is going to late to his own class and I'm nowhere near the penitentiary."

An irritated click of the tongue was heard, eliciting a grin from her. "Fine then," Nedzu relented. "Some people never appreciate a good plan… The note was a ruse and the actual information was with the Minister himself."

"Deputy Minister Josuke Higashikata, I presume?" she asked.

For the first time, the principal of the school narrowed his eyes. "No. The Minister, not _Deputy_ Minister." He was taken aback when she began to chuckle. "What's so funny, Miss Tendo?"

"Oh, nothing really." She stood up and straightened out her suit and tie. "You just looked like you were frozen in place that's all."

"Snipe!" Nedzu called out and moved to stop her. However, he quickly realised that his legs were not responding. In fact, his entire body save for his head could not move. His eyes widened when he saw Snipe frozen into place, his hand still placing the gun where the woman's neck once was. He then felt a jolt down his spine when a gentle gust of wind blew into his ear from behind him. His face tightened; it was the woman.

"Want to know a little secret?" he heard her whisper tenderly. "The student isn't the only one in here with a Stand."

Time appeared to slow down as Nedzu came to a chilling realisation. "No… you're-!"

"Tut tut! Let it stew a bit more in that brilliant head of yours before jumping to conclusions!" she teased. "Instead, how about you reflect on everything you've said in these past few minutes and remember why I'm here."

She was met with silence from him. "What's wrong, Principal? Cat got your tongue?" she said coyly as she wrapped her arms around the immobile mouse-bear thing. Stroking his chin, she brought her free arm closer around his neck, applying gradual pressure. "People say we've all got our vices, right? How about you tell me who this student is or else this 'vice' will clamp down hard, eh?"

Once more, the principal says nothing, his eyes instead watching the clock on the wall.

Snipe, in the meantime, felt helpless. A flick of the wrist and he would get a shot into the suspect. But, now he was a statue doomed to watch his friend being taunted and tormented by her. Every passing second felt like a minute and it seemed like it would never end. Then, he heard her sigh while shrugging her shoulders.

"Guess you're the real deal, huh, Nedzu?" She moved away from the principal and strode towards the door. "Any worthless joke of a hero would have spilled the beans the moment torture seemed imminent. Seriously, everyone knows torture doesn't really work, right? So, I'll leave you two be to thaw."

Before anyone could say anything, however, she suddenly found herself on the steps in the school stairwell, heading downstairs. She nearly fell when she lost her footing due to the sudden nature of it. It also brought her out of her spiel that she was about to deliver to Nedzu, her eyes widening upon realising this. _'This effect, could it be?'_ she thought as she pulled out an earpiece from her pocket and placed in her ear, pressing a button on it.

"Luca, this is Una," she said, her high heels clacking like an old train as she sped down the staircase.

 _"This is Luca, anything to report on your investigation in Japan?"_ replied a gruff voice in the transmission.

"The Devil, _Consigliere._ The Devil is here."

 **xxx**

 _"Reporting live from the scene, sirens are blaring everywhere after an explosion broke down the eastern wall of the Yokohama Prefectural Penitentiary. Plumes of smoke still rise from the blast site and it is speculated that among the dozens of escaped convicts are the masterminds behind the recent attacks on U.A High, Shigaraki—"_

 _Bzzt._

He turned away from the darkened screen and picked up the walkie-talkie next to him. Bringing it closer, he turned it on and asked, "Is he alright?"

 _"He was quiet the whole way through, sir,"_ replied a meek voice. _"Other than that, he's alright."_

He appeared to ponder this for a moment before responding. "Good. Any sightings of unusual Quirks yet?"

 _"Uh, I don't follow."_

He grumbled a curse under his breath. "The person you sent to check on the school. Has. He. Reported. Back?"

 _"O-oh…right! Yes, yes, yes, that. Um…not really."_

"Why?"

 _"W-well sir, security's been tightened since then and without Kurogiri, he couldn't bypass it. So, he decided to wait till school's over before releasing a harmless purple gas to scare the students, with the hopes of them activating their Quirks."_

"And do pray tell, how exactly is he going to figure who is it? Students would either run or hide and there are several hundred of them." A tired sigh was coming up, but he was too tired to deal with this to even do that.

 _"…you have a point, sir. A-a-anyway, he hasn't reported anything strange so far. Just some complaints about his watch acting funny."_

He sat up in his seat, the pipes protruding from his neck feeling less sore. "Come again?"

 _"U-uh, nothing really, sir! Just him spouting some nonsense about his watch being a bit faster now. Like he could've sworn the minute hand had moved earlier than usual."_

He grinned upon hearing this. "Call him back for now. We have all the information we need," he ordered.

 _"Yes, sir!"_

His low chuckling echoed in the vast room he was in. His suspicions were now confirmed. All he needed to do now was wait till the Sports Festival began.

* * *

The amber skies cast an orange glow onto the throngs of students below, casting long shadows onto the dry pavement. However, for class 1-A, the sun would never reach them as they were sheltered by the metal walls of a motorcade of police vans. Each student was placed into the vans based on their place of living for logistical ease. They would drop off the students off at their respective homes.

This was a very confusing moment for all the students involved but they understood why it had to be done: someone had managed to infiltrate the Principal's office and paralysed him. Fortunately, it was not permanent, and he was able to contact the police for this reason. Still, the very thought of a villain going that far into the school compound was a terrifying one. Izuku, on the other hand, was terrified as well but for a different reason. He was terrified by the fact that he did not feel scared by this breach in security.

If anything, he almost welcomed it. Like a powerful king who felt amused by a rogue attempting to stir chaos in his dominion. It was an alien feeling yet it was also natural, and it scared him. He never sought to stand over others like Kacchan did and he was not planning to start now. But, why does it feel so good? When he first felt it when Tsuyu, Kirishima and the rest of those who were in class during lunch break apologised for their words, it disgusted him to no end that he ever derived an energetic high from hearing them apologise in sincerity. The cold indifference he had while he faked a smile did little to help him.

Was this the mindset of the man who singlehandedly controlled the operations of Italy's largest mafia group in late 90s to the early 2000s? He could not help but wonder what horrible deeds he did to dirty his hands in such a business, wonder what he would become should they fuse even further.

A sharp rap on the door and hearing his name being called out, Izuku knew that they had now arrived at his home. He was the only one left in the van by then as the only other person in his area, Kacchan, had already dropped off not too long ago. As he stepped out, he could see the familiar tear-stricken face of his mother.

"Izuku!" she cried as she ran out of the apartment compound to hug him. "I was so worried about you! Oh, my poor Izuku!" She continued to sob even as the police officers present tried to assure her that nothing serious has happened to her son.

Izuku simply smiled, put one arm over his mother's shoulder and walked her back inside. "It's okay, mom. I'm fine." He then gave her a big confident grin.

"So, please don't cry, mom. Because I'm here."

Despite all the doubts that he has had over the changes in him, the fears, the dangers and the anxiety that he has had because of this power called a Stand, for the first time in a long time, he truly felt strong enough to utter those words with conviction.

* * *

 _ **A/N: Hey guys, KobeNiku here! Sorry for the absurd delay for this new chapter. University happened and I suddenly found myself with work to do. Procrastination too. Again, I apologise for this. Hope this is good enough to keep you going until the next chapter comes around! See you next time!**_


	11. Like a Rainbow

Huffing and puffing in the soothing chill of the morning air, Izuku Midoriya jogged past the beach, reaching the 25th kilometre mark since he started around 5AM. With the sports festival coming up in less than 2 weeks, ensuring that he was in peak condition took precedence. With a few minutes on the clock before the sky lit up in blue, he sprinted across the sand only to stop just inches by the teeth of the creeping sea.

 _"It is not the ability that makes the man, it is the man that makes the ability."_

Those words rang in his head ever since they were uttered about three weeks ago, shortly after the alleged intrusion into the principal's office. Diavolo, who had been oddly silent after his run-in with the red-haired lady, chimed in while he was deep in thought over the conflicting emotions he had been experiencing that day. Annoyed as usual, the gruff Italian mob boss rambled on about the importance of Fate and berated him for _'senseless rambling'_ for what seemed to be the third time in a span of fifteen minutes. Sometimes, Izuku thought that Diavolo was even worse than him in that department. At least he mutters to himself. However, upon reaching the subject of powers, Diavolo's grating scowls softened.

"How are you coping so far with your abilities?" he remembered him asking, his voice uncharacteristically gentle. He flinched a little, shifting around to regain footing.

"Uh, to be honest, Diavolo," he sighed, "I don't know. The Stand that I have, King Crimson, and the Quirk that allowed me to pass the Entrance Exam, One for All, are not mine. They're powers and abilities that have been handed to me, passed on to me, not something of my own. It's like I'm stealing from them, you know? I'm nothing but a parasite that piggybacks off the success of others. If it weren't for these powers, I am nobody."

Suddenly, he found himself being flung a few metres, a brutal blow to his right cheek being the tell-tale clue to the cause. He grunted as he nursed his struck cheek, staring back at Diavolo with silent disbelief. His mouth moved but no words came to be.

"Feel like a nobody now, brat?" growled Diavolo, his face contorted into a scowl that rivalled that of King Crimson's. Izuku, while well aware that both of them were in his subconscious, feared for his life. "Do you?!"

"D-Diavolo, I-I…"

" _What?_ You what? You're sounding pretty nobody there, kid." Izuku felt like running away. Wanted to run away. Run away from the slow heavy footsteps storming towards him yet he stood there. "C'mon! Say something!" shouted Diavolo. "If you're nobody, why're you here, huh? Why didn't you off yourself while you had the chance, huh?"

The boy's heart felt his blood freezing with every shove. Tears welled up in his eyes, sobs stuck in his lungs, his body stiff yet he stood still, taking every shove. He wanted to cry, to sob, to take his suggestion to heart and do it but why? Why was he soldiering on? Diavolo kept spitting truths to him and he knew it. But why were his legs planted firm? Why did he feel the urge to fight his words? Why?

" _Answer me!"_

"I…"

"Come on, spill it," he commanded, planting a firm grip on his shoulder.

The dam holding him back cracked. "I wanted to prove them wrong!" he cried, his voice cracking in between choked sobs. "The doctor, my mother, Bakugou, everyone; I wanted to prove them all wrong! I can be a hero, damnit! I know I can! I…know…I-I-can! I…can't just let it end there. Not like that."

He let out an anguished cry as he fell to his knees, pounding the ground. "And _not_ like this! Every day I can feel my sense of self slipping away. T-there's something that's steadily changing who I am inside, Diavolo and I know for a fact it's you." He shot a glare towards the pink-haired Italian man that stood watch over his state of grief. "Ever since you decided to fuse with me—something which I don't even know how—I became stronger. But, at the same time, I found it increasingly difficult to feel for others. I don't want that, Don. I'm _scared._ "

The don said nothing. Instead, he pulled him back on his feet and straightened his back. Then, he struck his face with a light backhanded slap.

"So, you're afraid, are you?" he asked.

"Yes," he replied with confidence. However, still reeling from the slap, it came out as a soft whisper.

"Good."

"…huh?" Izuku did not expect that.

"You feel fear. That's good. That means you still have a heart, kid," said Diavolo with a genuine grin. "The fact that you're even thinking about it and aware about it shows that your will is strong. You're still you, Izuku, so don't you worry about that."

"What do you mean, Diavolo?"

"A man had once said that power can corrupt a man and absolute power corrupts absolutely," he smirked with a glint in his eye. "The average man who finds himself with a great deal of power often gets drunk on the power given to him. However, you have found yourself with not one, but two incredible powers at your disposal; one that grants you immense strength and speed beyond that of a human being and one that allows you to foresee the future and change it as you wish. If it were anyone else, they would have abused these abilities to hell and back.

"But you, kid, somehow flipped that notion on its head. I expected you to use King Crimson for selfish gain. You know, escaping the villain attack scene by yourself, punishing those classmates that talked behind your back—"

"Hey!" Izuku protested. "They apologised already, okay? Besides, it was a silly misunderstanding on both sides." He winced as he recalled hearing the context behind it all from Kirishima.

"That's not my point, brat," he snapped. "The point I'm trying to drill into that dense skull of yours is that you have the integrity to use your powers responsibly. Seriously, I'm amazed you haven't tried picking up chicks with them yet. You could easily snag that Uraraka girl, you know? Just show her you can make a killing with it and boom! Instant girlfriend."

"Hey!" Izuku's cheeks flushed a brilliant red as he felt his ears steaming. "Don't say it like that! Jeez!"

"You're right!" chuckled Diavolo. "It's that earphone chick you're after, right?"

"Diavolo, come on!"

"I swear, kid," he playfully sighed, ignoring the kid's protests. "If only she were older, she'd be a woman after my own heart. Probably plays guitar too." He chuckled again when he felt his arm getting slugged.

"Alright, alright," he said. "That's enough about your girlfriends."

"They're not my girlfriends!"

"Not my point," deadpanned Diavolo. "You're feeling a lot better now, right?"

This snapped him out of his embarrassed anger. He was right; he no longer felt the heaviness in his heart. "Yeah, guess so," he replied. "But did you really have to punch _and_ slap me?"

"Eh, you were being too much of a pain so beating it out of you made sense." Before Izuku could say anything else, he continued. "Besides, you've got guts and a lotta will, kid. Not many teens can say they got both."

"Hey, what's up with you?" Izuku asked. The words and tone that flowed from the Italian's mouth did not match up at all with his usual demeanour. It began to make him feel uneasy about it.

"Nothing." Sharp and simple. A quick refusal masked behind a gentle smile. "But, as I was saying, you can shape your Fate however you see it. It is not the ability that makes the man, it is the man that makes the ability."

And just like that, their talk ended. Now, he stood still by the seaside, his posture ready to fight. With those words in mind, he tried to view One for All in a different light. He sucked a deep breath and closed his eyes. The rays of the early morning sun kissed his skin as he clenched his fists tight. The sea breeze helped him focus. One for All was not just All Might's power and One for All was not All Might; this power he had, the overwhelming strength that could shatter his limbs was his and his alone. Therefore, he must try and see how he could harness it rather than how to do as his mentor did.

"It is not the ability that makes the man, it is the man that makes the ability," he whispered to himself. He could feel the energy flowing through his veins into his right arm.

The seagulls flew in circles that morning, their caws the song of the morning beach. The waves crashed lazily onto the shore. This was his daily routine for the past few weeks but this day marked the first time he will attempt it for real.

"SMASH!"

The gulls cawed rose in pitch as the resounding crack thundered through the air. Droplets of seawater fell down in a gentle mist carried by the wind as Izuku stood motionless. His eyes were still shut tight and his right arm rigid and straight. Ten seconds. He counted down to ten, praying that this was not just adrenaline numbing the pain of an arm pulverised to the shoulder joint.

Then, with careful gentle twitches, he relaxed his arm. No pain. Then, he let his arm drop to his side, his hand bouncing off his thigh. No sign of mushy fingers either. He did it. He really did it. He could now use One for All and leave his bones intact!

 _'Wait, wait, wait,'_ he told himself, urging himself to calm down with little success. _'We need to make sure that this wasn't a fluke.'_ Positioning himself by the teeth of the crashing waves again and returning to proper fighting stance, he stared towards the open sea with purpose as he prepared to let loose another punch.

"SMASH!"

Much like before, the resulting crack from the air breaking the waves and the sound barrier echoed into the distance. More importantly, however, his eyes saw it all. How the sudden gust of wind split the surface of the sea apart and threw water into the air; how the gulls scattered and an arm in perfect, unbroken condition. He could not hold it in much longer. His body trembled with excitement as involuntary tears pooled in his eyelids.

"Yahoo!" He yelled and cheered at the top of lungs as he ran along the coastline. He pranced, skipped and sprinted his way back home. Even though the topic of his mentor's power was still a secret to his mother—she only knew that he can punch really hard—he could not wait to tell her that she can worry about him no more! The thought of her being able to watch him do his best in the Sports Festival with pride instead worry filled him with a profound sense of fulfilment and joy. After all, what good can all the power in the world do when you cannot ease the minds of your loved ones? He was what gave his Quirks purpose, not the other way around—Diavolo had told him that.

Suddenly, he heard an enthusiastic "Deku!" from behind him just as he was about to turn toward the corner that led to his home.

"Uraraka?" he called out as he turned.

"Hey, Deku!" said the cheery bob-haired girl. "What are you doing here?"

"Heh, just finished my morning jog," he sheepishly replied. His eyes then lit up. "Wait, I should be asking you that!"

"Huh? Why?"

"Um, I live here."

The glow in Uraraka's eyes brightened up. "Really?! That's so cool! You live so close to the beach and the municipal park!"

Izuku did not respond, not sure how to answer that. His inexperience with the fairer sex becoming apparent, he tried to bring the conversation on track. "A-anyway, you, uh, jogging too?"

"Yup! How did you know?"

"Oh, uh…" His eyes made a quick check on her appearance. He cursed himself for blurting out that question. He made a mental note of her clothes; black Adidas tracksuit and shoes. Alright. "That's because you're wearing jogging shoes."

Uraraka's face glowed a shade of pink as she fumbled over her words. "O-oh, o-of course! Silly me, how could I forget about that?"

They both shared a hearty laugh at that. Then, Izuku asked her where she lived considering that he only saw her today out of all non-school days.

"Oh? Haven't I told you already? I live in an apartment in the city," she answered.

"Eh?! Isn't that quite far from here? Why jog here instead of there?"

She seemed to fidget a bit as she thought up of an answer, something Izuku found odd. He found himself if she was okay out of sudden curiosity. The slight flinch she made did not go unnoticed.

"Don't worry, I'm fine, Deku!" she said with a smile. "Just wanted to exercise in fresher air, you know?"

That response only fuelled Izuku's gut suspicion but he did not want to press further into it. Him not knowing where she lived proved that he did not know her that well despite being good friends so he gave her the benefit of the doubt. Then, a low grumble followed by a red-faced Uraraka was heard.

"Ah, s-sorry!" she flustered.

Scratching the back of his head, he assured her. "No worries! I was just about to head home and have breakfast myself. You can even tag along if you'd like."

"W-what?! It's fine! Really!"

"Come on, it's not that far. It's literally just a block away from here around that corner there."

The flustered brunette fidgeted around the spot as she muttered a barely audible, "Ok."

 **xxx**

Breakfast went by without incident. He did not think much about it as he was still overwhelmed by the joy of his success at keeping his arm in one piece. However, after Uraraka had left, the mischievous grin on his mother's face suddenly brought the social significance of what he had just done come rolling over.

He, shy and awkward Izuku Midoriya, had just talked to a girl, invited said girl over to his home for a meal and got her details—which he asked for _in front of_ his mother.

It all made sense now. Uraraka's flustered speech, her constant bright red face, her odd timid behaviour when speaking, the blissful look his mother wore all throughout breakfast; he asked a girl out for a meal. Speaking of his mother, hearing her mutter how her 'little Izuku' had become grown up while doing the dishes did not help at all.

"Mom, stop it, it's not like that!" he weakly protested as his face burned crimson.

"Sure it isn't, Izuku," his mother replied with a smug grin while putting away the last of the dishes. "And friends blush when in their friend's home too."

"Mom!"

"I must say, I can't believe you've become more confident and daring! Asking for a girl's details so brazenly like that. In front of your own mother! I swear, I'll be disappointed if I don't have grandkids after you graduate."

 _"Mom!"_

 _Your mom's right, you know?_

 _'Shut up, Diavolo!'_ he mentally hissed. _'I've got no time for your commentary right now!'_ The chuckle in his head forced him hold back a grumble as he focused back to his mother.

"Alright, alright, Izuku," she relented with her hands in the air in mock defeat. "I'm just proud that you're growing up fine." A small smile formed on her face. "As long you're happy, as long as you're still breathing, I'll be alright."

"Mom?"

"Because you're my son, Izuku," she said with moist eyes. "I've always blamed myself when you were a small child because I knew I should have tried to support you. You could have stood up to that Bakugou and have a happier childhood but because of me, you have been let down your whole life. You've grown more confident and passionate now, Izuku, and that alone makes me happy as a mother."

Izuku said nothing and walked up to her, rubbing her shoulder gently. "Mom, don't say that. You did what you thought was right and I'm okay with that. Dad wasn't around much to begin with so it's not right for you think that." He then pulled her in for a hug, his own eyes moist too. "Besides, while All Might was my idol, you are the one that I truly look up to."

While tears had been shed that day, there were no sobs to be had. Just a peaceful household as mother and son had a heart-to-heart over the past. With the occasional teasing over girls, of course.

However, the people in the van that had just parked in front of their house had other plans.

* * *

 _ **A/N: Hey there, KobeNiku here! Here's some nice filler-ish content to make up for the long gap between updates last time! Hope you guys enjoy it! Oh, and don't feel shy to drop a review or two! Follows and favorites may let me know how the story is doing but reviews help me understand how it's doing by telling me what you liked or hated about something so please, drop one for yourself, eh? I'll try to respond every one of your responses.**_

 _ **Darkness in shadowland: Don't you worry, buddy. They've already apologised in chapter 9. I just gave it a brief mention, is all. As much as I enjoy some good misunderstanding-induced drama, this isn't really the kind of drama I'm gunning for so I'm sorry to disappoint.**_

 _ **Karlos1234ify: Thanks for the kind words as always. Care to tell me why you think so?**_

 _ **Guest: But is this really the person you're thinking of? :3**_

 _ **TakatoMakino: Thanks for the compliments! Now to answer your questions,**_

 _ **a) I may include the Speedwagon Foundation later down the line but I want this story to be more MHA with a side of Jojo rather than the other way around. Therefore, even if I do include it, it might not be as central to be plot as imagined and therefore I'm sorry. This is pretty much one of the main reasons why I did not put this into the crossovers category as most stories in that category tend to have the crossover-ed part overpower the elements of the other (I learnt that the hard way.)**_

 _ **b) Izuku and Jirou are an interesting combination, not gonna lie. However, when I started this story I did not have romance in mind. So, to avoid the classic shoe-horned romance, I just want to let the characters develop their relationships organically. If that makes any sense. :p Glad you liked what limited 'screen-time' Jirou had in the story, though.**_

 _ **c) I live for the memes, my dude, so don't you worry. I will make them as subtle as I can, though. Need the memes to stay fresh.**_


	12. His Name is Diavolo

"Is this the right house?" asked one of the men.

"Yup, it is," another answered. He tapped the steering wheel quickly to alert the other two men in the van. "Look! The lights are off!"

The occupants of the van silently watched as the green-haired boy closed the blinds of their target residence. With only a flick of an index finger from the steering wheel, the four men donned balaclavas and tracksuits.

"So, this is where she went this morning, eh?" a gruff voice from behind said. "No wonder she didn't answer the door when we arrived then."

"Think it's her boyfriend?" asked a gleeful voice next to him, his fingers caressing the baseball bat leaning by his seat.

"Don't know, don't care." The driver turned to his men, his stern glare felt through the small eyeholes of his balaclava. "Remember what we're here for, people," he commanded. "No funny business. Extract residents and leave."

"Aw, come on. We haven't had a little bloody fun in ages! I need to get my murder on, you hear?"

The van suddenly vibrated a little as sounds of muffled thuds and bangs from the trunk grew louder.

"Make sure the binds and gag are secure," the driver reminded, ignoring the noise and his teammate. "We cannot risk bringing in attention too soon."

"Man, why can't it wait another day?" whined the man that sat beside the driver. "I'm going to miss the finale of _Colourful Girl Drop_ like this and I was looking forward to it since this morning."

"Quit it," the driver snapped. "We've agreed to this yesterday, remember?"

"Yes, boss."

"Yup!"

"…agreed."

"Good. We move now. Do everything as planned and they will never know what hit them.

* * *

The clock struck 11. At a time when most people rest their eyes, Izuku found his own staring at the ceiling. He rolled over to his right. Then to his left. Then right again. _'Damnit. I hate it when this happens,_ he thought. While it was not a recurring problem that he had, it annoyed him whenever his mind refused to shutdown when his body groaned in fatigue.

 _A lot on your mind, again?_ Diavolo asked.

"Yeah," answered Izuku, attempting to bore holes into the ceiling with his gaze. "Was just thinking about this whole 'soul fusion' thing."

 _What is it this time?_

"You know how you can take control of my body when I allow you to? I was thinking about what would happen if I lost consciousness or the fusion became complete." An amused hum bounced around in his head.

 _Interesting thought. Well, since I don't need sleep anyway, I'll humour you. It's not a bad way to pass the time._

Izuku's brows furrowed. Setting aside the question of why the Italian never needed rest, the greater-than-thou tone that was Diavolo's default speech never failed to add to his annoyance.

 _Oi, I can hear you, you know that?_

Damn.

 _Thought so. Anyway, I guess if you lost consciousness, that gives me free reign to control your body as I see fit. I might even return to my physical form for a short amount of time._

 _"_ Huh." The minute hand on the clock moved one increment. "You look like how you usually do in my mindscape, right? What do you plan to do if I, let's say, lose consciousness in the middle of a tight spot?"

Despite not having a form, he could almost see Diavolo smirking at him with devilish glee.

 _Let's just say that they will know why the name, Passione, struck fear into the hearts of grown men._

"What?!" blurted Izuku as he shot out of his covers.

 _Shush, boy! Indoor voices! Don't wake the neighbours over a joke, you brat!_

"What was that?" came an unfamiliar voice.

The sound of footsteps racing upstairs made them clam up. An intruder in their home? It can't be mom because he had seen her enter her bedroom just an hour ago. His hand stopped short of grabbing his mobile phone when he heard an abrupt clack of boots outside his door.

"Boss!" he heard the intruder's muffled whisper, "I think one of'em's still awake!"

Izuku's suddenly felt cold. There was more than one intruder in his home! Tip-toeing over to his closet crossed his mind but the risk involved planted him to his bed. Quirks that allowed sensitive hearing were common and even if the one closest to him might not have one, the others increased that probability.

"You dumbass!" came a barely muffled hoarse whisper from downstairs. "Keep it down! If they weren't awake already, they sure as hell are now."

"What do we do now?" he heard the nearby man ask.

"You got the other tenant, right?"

"Yeah?"

"Good. That makes things easier."

Slow thumps creaked with each step closer to his room followed by a heavy metal thud hitting the floor. Izuku gulped as nothing happened. His mind raced with ideas and doubts over this situation. _'They mentioned another tenant…Mom?!'_ he thought, his eyes wide with fear. _'What do I do?! I know I must save Mom but how do I get out of here? I don't know anything about the Quirks they have! There was also something heavy they placed just outside my door. It can't be a battering ram. They were bickering over the need of silence earlier, so it can't be something loud.'_

 _I don't think they have sensitive hearing either._

 _'Why is that?'_ Izuku thought.

 _They would have been sure you were awake otherwise._

 _'You're right!'_ Izuku beamed. However, he suddenly felt a strong urge to yawn. His eyelids felt like weights over his eyes and his legs began to buckle.

 _'Something's wrong!'_ he thought, his fading vision scrambling to find an answer. Then, he heard it. A faint hiss seeping from his door. An odourless cloud of blackout filled his senses and he was none the wiser. As he slumped to the floor, he struggled to will his limbs to move. They failed to obey him. Objects became blurs, the outline of a burly figure entering his room just visible enough to incite panic.

He felt himself being lifted off the ground. The world gradually turned to black. Just as the shadows began to envelop him completely, he heard a cold yet calm voice say something that made him fear more than the intruders that came.

* * *

 _I'll take it from here._

She felt her heart drop when she saw the two figures that lay unconscious before her. Bound and gagged to a chair in the Midoriya residence, the helplessness that had been looming over her since her kidnapping only grew. Even if she could loosen the knot that bound her arms to the back of the chair, the most that she could ever hope to accomplish was make things float. The nausea that came with the usage of her power would only hinder escape plans.

Then, her throat strained as the cloth gag prevented her from yelping when she felt a sudden splash of frigid water wash over her.

"Wakey, wakey!" she heard her captor say as he slapped her across her cheeks a few times, "It's time for the show to start!" She then grunted as he jerked her head back, grabbing a fistful of her hair. Through the tears that lingered in her eyelids, she saw three other men standing before her.

Although their faces were covered by balaclavas, she knew that the man in the centre was the leader of the group. She could recognise that rigid gait anywhere. The other two beside him were his muscle and mechanic respectively. One built like a brick house and the other almost like a shell of a man.

"Hey boss, come on! She's up already! Let's get to the fun part, will you?"

Ah. Of course. Of course the man whom she was sure had a handful of her hair just had to be the 'specialist'. All thoughts on her captors ceased, however, when the leader marched towards her and held her by the chin.

"Undo the gag, Nijime," he ordered the man behind her. "I'd like to have some words with her."

"Most certainly!" With a quick yank and a tug, she winced as the cloth seared the corner of her mouth and let out a cough and a sputter.

"Feel better now, Miss Ochako?" asked the leader with a cold gaze, leaning closer to her face. "Or should I say, Uraraka Ochako?"

"I told you already, Viper, I had nothing to do with this!" Uraraka weakly protested.

The moonlight bleeding from the cracks in the blinds cast an ominous silhouette of the man called Viper. His piercing purple eyes motioning towards the muscular man.

"Gack!" For that brief moment the solid dense fist pounded into her soft gut, she felt her insides turn into mush. She lurched and heaved but nothing came spewing from her mouth. Her teeth clenched when strong fingers held her chin once again.

"You see, Miss Ochako," Viper growled, "Your parents have owed us money for a long time now but they haven't coughed up a single dime." He fished out a dime from his pocket and tossed it into the air. "Since they can't afford to pay, naturally the debt falls to you, Miss Ochako."

"But what did they do to deserve this?!" she cried, shivering in her seat. "I-I understand why you're doing this to me but why them?!"

Viper said nothing, catching the dime and tossing it again, ringing faintly in the quiet living room of the Midoriya residence.

"There have been a…change of plans," he said, letting go of her chin and began to pace around the room. "After our previous visits to your home, we originally intended to take you in this morning to provide incentive to your irresponsible parents. However, since you had the guts to try and hide away from us, we decided to punish you first before informing your beloved mother and father.

"How noble you are at such a young age… To want to become a hero to financially aid your family…Such a shame that you couldn't get rich quick enough."

Uraraka shuddered, her heart dropping to her gut. They looked into her diary! To make things worse, if she had refused Deku's offer for breakfast earlier, she could have prevented this! She could have prevented getting her friend involved in her problems.

She let out a yelp as Viper struck her face, leaving a burning red mark.

"Nijime," she heard him utter, "It is time."

"Ooh! Goody!" came Nijime's awful cackle. "You have no idea how long I've been holding myself back from ravaging that thick lump of goodness right there."

Uraraka's blood froze. ' _No…'_ she thought in despair. "No, no, no!"

"Shut up!"

She heard her nose crack as Nijime flung her to the floor with his boot. Her neck trembled with great effort as she tried to lift her head to see the Midoriya family one last time. _'Deku…Forgive me…'_ she thought.

However, when her eyes levelled with that of the unconscious figure of Mrs Midoriya, Deku was nowhere to be found.

"Hey, where's the green-haired kid?!" she heard Viper yell.

" _He's no longer here._ "

She saw Viper and his men snap around to face whoever was suddenly behind her. Her heart began to race as a mixed bag of emotions coursed through her. None of them pleasant.

"At least, not for a bit longer."

A sickening wet cracking of vertebrae echoed in the room, the limp body of the 'specialist' Nijime slumping forward like a ragdoll. Uraraka's heartrate increased tenfold as his body landed with his lifeless head facing hers. It suddenly ground to a halt when she could feel the chair she was bound to be lifted back into place, allowing her full view of the fear that began to seep into the expressions of her captors.

"Nijime!" The large muscular man's face contorted with grief. After grief, came rage. "I'll crush your bones to dust!" he roared, stomping onwards.

"Tungsten, wait!" Viper warned, "Something's not right!"

However, before the warning could be registered, Uraraka saw a flash of pink lunge toward Tungsten, striking the living brick wall square in his face. Tungsten staggered a few steps back, shaking his head to regain his senses but the lanky man gave him no breaks, slamming a heavy blow to his gut and sent him crashing to the ground with a swift elbow blow to the back of his head as he reeled from the gut punch.

Uraraka, stunned by the quick takedown of the group's muscle, found herself unable to look away from the pink-haired man bringing his steel-toed shoe repeatedly down on the fallen Tungsten's skull. By the time cracks gave way to squishes, she absentmindedly turned to the remaining two men. The expression carved into their faces could only be described as terror.

"Who sent you?" the lanky man asked, his voice low and gruff.

"W-what are you talking a-about?" stammered the mechanic, fear overriding his nonchalance from before.

"Who do you work for, pipsqueak?"

"I-I-I—"

Without a word, he suddenly sidestepped a swing of a butterfly knife, yelping in fright. Pulling his arm back, Viper took up a stance, holding his knife steady. "Do not tell him anything, Takumi!" he snapped.

The lanky man only chuckled. "I think," he said, casually blocking Viper's second swing at him, "…you should," he added as he wrested the knife away from the leather-clad man and plunged it into his throat, "…reconsider his offer."

"Alright! Alright! We work for King's Loans and Bargains Ltd! Our office is downtown right next to the dilapidated pub so please don't hurt me, d-demon!"

"Anything else?" he added with a low whisper.

"I've got nothing else, man! Please! I'm just the company mechanic! I'm only here because they keep breaking the damn van every time. All I wanted to do was watch TV and do nothing today!" pleaded Takumi, begging on his hands and knees.

He gave an amused hum. "Very well, I'll consider it."

Takumi's eyes lit up. "Oh, thank you! Thank you so much for—"

"Under one condition."

"…aw, sunnuva bitch."

"Take me to your boss's office," he ordered. "After that, go as far away as you can."

The mechanic did not need to be told twice as he rushed out to start up the van. The pink-haired man then turned to face Uraraka, still stunned by what she just witnessed. He knelt down and silently removed the binds to her arms and feet. After that, he stood up and looked at her, his emerald eyes matching her hazel. "Run along home, missy. This isn't a place for a damsel like you to be in."

"Okay." Uraraka stood up and shuffled towards the door, accompanied by her saviour. Then, as though the moonlit sky shook her out of a daze, she suddenly turned towards him. "Who are you?" she asked, her voice almost a whisper as her mind finally processed what had just happened.

With a gentle yet sad smile that reminded her of Deku, the man answered, "Diavolo."

 **xxx**

"Gah!"

Izuku burst awake covered in cold sweat. _'Where am I?_ He looked around to see that he was still in his room. His desk was intact and the chirping of birds could be heard. _'Was it all just a dream?'_ he wondered.

He glanced at the clock. 10:30 AM, Saturday. Shifting out of bed, he decided to freshen up and head to the kitchen. Mom usually made breakfast around this time on the weekends and the gentle sizzling of eggs coming from the kitchen confirmed this.

"Morning, Mom," he called out as he passed the kitchen.

"Good morning to you too, Izuku!" she replied. "Would you mind setting the table, please? Breakfast is almost done."

With an 'Ok', he set the table. Noticing the newspaper on the table, however, he asked her when she bought it.

"I just got it today on the way back from the market. Why don't have a look-see on the latest news? I haven't got a chance to read it yet."

Izuku hummed with little thought and unfolded it to reveal the headline. The article and picture printed on the front page made his gut queasy.

The headline read, _'Has Vigilantism Gone Too Far? Loan Shark Office Massacred',_ and the image featured appeared to be a line-up of about twenty bodies covered with white cloth outside of the crime scene. A pang of pain suddenly surged through his head, causing him to clench it tight but only for a brief moment. _'What the…?'_

"Izuku! Come and eat your breakfast already!" his mother chided playfully. "Is the newspaper really that interesting or are you thinking about that Uraraka girl from before?"

"Mom, come on!" he protested, his cheeks flushed red, the headache from earlier forgotten.

* * *

 ** _A/N: Hey, KobeNiku here! Thank you for all the support and interest that you've shown in this story! The Easter Break is coming up soon so hopefully I will have more time to dedicate to writing. To those of you who have read my latest story, 'The Data Collector', you'd be pleased to know that I'm now planning on adding a few more chapters to it because I realised that it felt unfinished judging by the way I ended it. ^-^_**

 _ **Since there aren't that many questions to be found, I will see you in the next update! If you liked it or hated it, let me know in the reviews. A little feedback goes a long way.**_


	13. Catalyst (Part One)

Kurogiri quite liked his cover as a bartender of the small, speak-easy bar that he and his boss used as the base of operations for Shigaraki's fledgling League of Villains. Current members were himself and Shigaraki. The repetitive act of cleaning glasses he found to be relaxing, almost like a way to take his mind off the heavier things in life. While customers were rare to come by, regulars did exist. And regulars meant that he could talk to someone able to converse in topics that were not All Might or video games. Granted, the 'regulars' themselves did not come in at a rate that one could call regular but their faces showed up often enough that he felt it adequate to call them that. The jingle that accompanied the weary footfall on old wood told him that one such regular had come.

Takumi.

"Welcome. Would you like the usual?"

"Yeah I do," he heard Takumi grunt. "And make it double."

He raised his brow as he set a large glass on the counter and prepared Takumi's favourite drink which he had come to call the 'Spirit Walker'. One part absinthe, one part vodka and one part spirit with a splash of squash. A liver's nightmare. Takumi only ordered this when he had a bad day—which seemed like every other time he came in. Usually around the end of the month when his boss underpaid him. Something terrible must have happened tonight for him to even consider doubling up the hellish drink.

"Alright but every drink I serve after that will be non-alcoholic," he said while sliding the glass over to Takumi. "If I poured that into an engine, it'll run."

"Hah! Good one! More reason for me to lap it up."

He winced as he saw Takumi chug that flammable concoction like there was no tomorrow. He prided himself in being able to hold his liquor but this was on another level that he dared not explore. That stuff was a combination of liquids whose alcoholic content might as well have made them pure alcohol. But yet, there sat Takumi, groaning and coughing from the burning sensation he was sure to feel in his throat and stomach.

"Ah fuck, that hurt! Well, at least I'm still alive to feel it."

"Alive? What happened? I know Viper isn't exactly the best of employers but he wouldn't kill you over mistakes. What he do? Threaten your figure collection again?"

The bang on the table made the empty glass move a good few inches. If Kurogiri was startled, he did not show it as he continued to wipe empty glasses clean. His brows did furrow when Takumi began to scoff and look away. Knowing him to be like Shigaraki if his interests went towards animated shows. He expected a red-faced Takumi berating him with passion, demanding that he take his words back or show respect towards Mimi…no. Mary? Kira? Something. Something-chan. Whatever. Regardless, his anger for belittling his interests should have overridden any factor that had brought him into his bar.

"I suppose I should be happy. Viper's gone. His posse's gone. But I also missed out on the new episode of _Colourful Girl Drop_ , so there's that."

Now this was new. Kurogiri stopped wiping the glass in hand and set it on the counter.

"Wait. Gone?"

"Yes, gone. Dead. Deceased. Kaput. The only reason I'm alive is because I didn't take any part in the shit they were doing."

"Job went balls up?"

"Oh yeah. Definitely. Today was supposed to be the day we took the Uraraka girl as compensation for her parents' debt but she went off to her friend's house. So Viper, in his infinite wisdom, decided that we should also whack her friend too to 'teach her a lesson' or something or other. Hey, stop making that face. I didn't like it too but they were idiots. Anyway, night fell and we knocked out the kid and his mom with sleeping gas. We brought the girl into house, tied her down and they smacked her around a few before one of them got ready to defile the kid's mom in front of her."

While Kurogiri was known to be a calm man, hearing Takumi's tale made his blood run hot. The glass he was grasping at unknowingly creaked in his hand. He was not a good person, he was aware of this fact, but there were many things within that arc of a story that did not sit well with him.

"I looked away. The Uraraka girl was already screaming, begging for them to stop. Then, they panicked. The green-haired kid was gone. This…pink-haired _demon_ appeared in his place, snapping Nijime's neck and pulverizing Tungsten's head with his foot. It was so fast I didn't know how long it took. All I knew after that was Viper trying to slash at him only to find his knife stuck in his throat."

Takumi's speech was becoming slurred. The alcohol finally kicked in, Kurogiri observed. He had stopped grasping the glass and was now contemplating Takumi's tale. He could already tell where this was going but it just seemed too bizarre. Where did the pink-haired man come from? He must have been quite strong to overpower Tungsten considering he was rather powerful for a Quirkless. This man or demon did not seem to have a Quirk either or did not use it because not once in Takumi's story did he mention any use of Quirks. Perhaps the pink man's sudden appearance was a clue towards Quirk but there was not much to work with at the moment.

"I take it, the pink-haired man told you to bring him to where you worked?" Kurogiri asked.

Takumi, whose eyelids were half-open, nodded.

"He should be making his way to the boss now. Took Viper's gun from the glovebox before he went. I think we left the Uraraka girl behind. I dunno. My head hurts. Wake me up for work will ya?"

With a sigh, Kurogiri agreed and helped Takumi up to move him to a corner of the bar where he slumped unconscious. Takumi's workplace was right next to the bar, a sleazy loan shark's office. Any moment now, he should hear muffled gunshots.

As if on cue, the gunshots came. His gaze turned to the cuckoo clock that hung on the bar's wall. He wondered how long it will take for the noise to die down. The seconds ticked by. He was sure he heard a shotgun fire at some point. A minute had passed and the noise still seeped through the walls. This man was good. If he had a Quirk, he must be doing really well not to use it because the occasional gunshots told him that he relied on firearms. However, at the five minute mark, he saw it.

The clock's second hand moved ten spaces in one second.

And it seemed he was not the only one that noticed it.

"Kurogiri!" he heard Shigaraki yell from upstairs. "It happened again! He's here!"

He could hear him running downstairs. A sigh escaped him. "No, Shigaraki. We're not going to check it out."

"But I didn't tell you what I wanted to do yet."

"But that's what you wanted to do, right?"

Shigaraki clicked his tongue.

"This is our chance to see the guy with the glitch-like Quirk. It's no secret that Sensei is interested in this guy as well so what better opportunity that now?"

Ah. He played the 'Sensei' card. Not only that, he also put in an argument that makes sense. Kurogiri crossed his arms and sighed once more.

"Alright then. I'll take you there. But only if you promise not to cause trouble."

"Fair enough. Having a Noumu would not be beneficial to the League of Villains."

A league of only two members, Kurogiri wanted to say but kept to himself. He transformed into a warp gate and transported Shigaraki and himself to Takumi's workplace. Upon arrival, he could already see what Takumi meant by 'demon'. Every person that worked at this hour, whether it be underpaid clerks or hired muscle, was a corpse. Blood ran through the corridors of the small office building. He heard Shigaraki whistle in amusement at the sight along with an offhand remark on hiring the guy who did it. However, up until they reached the boss's floor, there was nothing remarkable about the scene. Sure, there were signs that everything from guns to office stationery were utilised but nothing stood out to him. Once they reached the boss's floor though, he noticed how Shigaraki froze. He saw him remain still and shudder. From what he saw, he did not blame him either. At the other end of the floor, was a grand office for the building's size. Bodies of the loan shark's security lay strewn about with bullet wounds on their backs, raising his suspicions. There, inside the grand office, was the body of Albert King, the loan shark. His corpse was strung up on the wall with a gaping hole in his torso.

"It's him," he heard Shigaraki blurt out. "There's no doubt about it. It's him."

He was pointing at King's body. "That was the same guy who punched a hole in the Noumu."

Hearing this, Kurogiri became alert. While the person who had struck Shigaraki had green hair, there was a possibility that were more who had a Quirk like him, no matter how unlikely. He motioned for Shigaraki to get behind him, preparing to warp them back at moment's notice.

"Hm? It's not like me to leave anyone alive once I set my mind to it. Did you happen to walk in here by any chance?"

Kurogiri snapped around and put his guard up. Where did he come from? Before him, was a lanky man with pink hair. He wore a scowl that promised death to anyone that saw it. However, his tone sounded genuine in his confusion.

"I'm afraid so. We were simply investigating the noise. We're from the building next door. However, seeing your 'handiwork', would you be interested in joining the League of Villains?"

He had no idea why he said that. Maybe it was the first thing that came to his mind but the emerald eyes that bore into his soul unnerved him to the point that he could not think of anything on the spot. Kurogiri was no stranger to crime but the man that stood there had the look of a man who lived his entire life inflicting terror. Hence, his jumpiness when the man began to laugh.

"A recruitment offer? Is that your plea for your life? Normally I'd leave no witnesses but that is the first I've ever heard someone offer me a job! Fine then. I'll consider it. However, don't think it as a serious consideration because I would rather die than serve under a group who calls themselves with such a corny name."

If Shigaraki took any offense to that, he did not show it, much to Kurogiri's relief. His Quirk and Shigaraki's were powerful and could be enough to overpower the man threatening them but his subconscious told him that this might not be the best idea. But arrogance was certainly present in the man.

"However, that corny name is familiar to me. You were the ones who had dared attack the school, are you not?"

The man's eyes seemed to glint as an apparition phased into existence behind him. The anger and hatred that emanated from the apparition's scowl sent alarms ringing in Kurogiri's mind. He could understand if he had a similar Quirk but the exact same one? That made no sense! This man and the man who foiled their USJ operation were different people. Green-hair and pink-hair, student and non-student. Yet, the apparition was the same.

"In that case, two birds with one stone it is. I get to eliminate witnesses and kill those who dared touch me! [King Crimson]!"

Almost as soon as he said that, Kurogiri suddenly himself back in his bar. Shigaraki was there with him as well, looking just as confused.

"I didn't know you could warp us out that quickly."

"Neither did I. Unless something happened to bypass the few seconds needed for me change forms."

A wry grin formed on Shigaraki's face.

"We found him. The glitch Quirk man."

"Should we report this to Sensei, Shigaraki?"

Shigaraki's brows furrowed. He appeared to contemplate this. Kurogiri, thinking himself as a person who knows the self-proclaimed mastermind of the League of Villains enough to guess his thought process, gave a shot at pre-emptive reasoning.

"True, we should. After all, he shows interest in the man. However, he had not given us explicit orders on how to deal with him nor has he told us that we could not interact with him. Besides, you're probably itching to meet him again. So, taking into consideration your recent recovery and breakout from prison, I highly suggest holding off from reporting until tomorrow and continue resting."

Judging by Shigaraki's speechlessness, he was right on the money. There was another reason why he wanted to discourage him from making a move and that had to do with his hospitalisation. The online community and the media were beginning to make the connection between him and the former No.1 Hero. No doubt All Might would have connected the dots already. He had also heard that there had been another break-in at UA High, which suggested that this mysterious figure attracted other parties outside of Sensei's jurisdiction.

Was the Yakuza? A secret government organisation? An international organisation? He had no clue. His job was warping in and warping out. Extraction. But, seeing Shigaraki slink back upstairs, he became aware of how alone he was in his contemplation. So, he picked up Takumi's empty glass, rinsed it with water and got to work wiping it.


	14. Catalyst (Part Two)

The sounds of the violence that came from the loan shark's building seemed to have attracted no attention as the culprit sauntered out of it. The roughed up condition of his clothing hide the fact that they appear to be a few sizes too small for him yet it also lacks any spattering of blood. However, should one gaze into his shattered emerald glare, one could feel the cold murderous aura that he gave off. The scowling man kept looking into his hands, opening and closing them. The rugged texture of his palms, the feeling of his own strength in his arms once again, the bite of the chill against his skin on this night; it made his chest tense at a feeling he had not felt in centuries.

The appreciation of being alive.

He let the crimson arm of his Stand meld together with his own. Clenching his hand into a fist, he looked up to take in his surroundings. Taking in the sights of people with features deemed inhuman roam the streets, the slim buttonless mini steel tablets that some of the teens fiddle around in their hands, it was as if he had been whisked away to another world.

Perhaps it was a piece of that boy's soul that stuck with him or maybe it was his mind piecing together snippets of information from the many deaths he experienced but everything about the sights before him felt natural. That this was Japan, not Italy; this was the norm, not the exception; these were people, not monsters. Aimlessly wandering, an unnerving sensation creeped along his back. Fractured eyes darted around, becoming more erratic with every passing moment. He was being watched. He could feel it. Knew it. **Know it.** Was it the duo he stumbled upon before? The laughable 'League of Villains'? Was it the man across the street? The high school girl loitering around with her friends? His chest began to pound steadily. Everyone was looking at him. They thought they would be so sneaky with the way they hid their wary gazes but Diavolo knows all. Sees all.

Paranoia? No. It couldn't be. A great man such as he having a mental illness? Don't make him laugh. This was a normal feeling to have when preserving your own life from those that dared to go against the position of which Fate had granted him. The corners of his mouth creaked into a grin. Fate was still on his side! Of course! Even after all the countless cycles deaths spanning unholy lengths of time, here he was standing tall and alive! He persevered against the cruel challenge the wheel of Fate decided for him and won! However, he knew better than to celebrate victories prematurely. This strange new world that he had been thrown into was far too different than the one he departed from.

He scowled.

As loathe as he were to admit it but the boy was right, there was almost none of his past left for him to worry about. Almost. The past, no matter how far you buried it, no matter how well you hid it, would always come writhing back like a stubborn worm. That archive on the supposed 'superpowers' of the eras preceding the present was proof of this. That small blurry image of him eliminating Abbacchio Leone was enough to force him into his attempt to wrest control over the boy's body in haste.

O Fate, her tests ever so daunting!

How did anyone manage to slip past him? The crafty members of Bucciarati's gang took advantage of his King Crimson's limit of his power so it was an uncomfortable understanding but this unknown photographer? It was this accursed photo that caused him to come to a bone-chilling realization.

 _How many people already know of me?!_

Thinking back to it, the way the brat's mentor spoke of him was oozing with concern, fear and acknowledgement. Was this book given out to all Heroes? The student library? The public?

 _"This picture, young Midoriya, was the only photograph taken of the boss of the largest crime organisation in Italy at the time…"_

This was bad. Bad. BAD. An information leak of this scale was impossible to contain even if he somehow managed to regain the power and status he had back when he was the boss of Italy's then largest _famiglia._ The elimination of the occasional bystander, rival gangs, cops and even some politicians were fair game to ensure his anonymity reigned supreme. He scowled again. The boy's words were beginning to ring through his head.

 _'In this world, transparency reigns dominant!'_

Well, that was not what the boy said but it might as well have been. It was an outright violation of the right to privacy! Then again, he might have a chance. Yes! A chance! Another blessing in disguise has come to him.

 _The brat also has a power that needs to be kept hidden! If he uses King Crimson sparingly or claim that King Crimson was an evolution of his Quirk, I would never have to reveal myself! Genius!_

He stopped his sauntering when he heard uneven footsteps shuffle from the building next to the former loan shark's. It was the driver. Tracking his wobbly stomping over to his van, a wonderful idea came to him. While he could never eliminate everyone that knew of him due to the possibly sheer number of them, no one would miss a few.

But! There was always a 'but'. Who did the driver talk to whilst he was away? He could have just been drinking in the rundown building next the loan shark's but last he checked, there was only one liquor store in the area and it looked like they only sold the cheap stuff. This meant that the rundown building might not be as unoccupied as he thought. That also meant that they might have heard the commotion that was going on.

Running his fingers through his long hair, he approached the drunk van driver. " _Scusi,_ where have you—"

"Uwah! The devil's come for me! Help!"

Diavolo smacked him around a few times with a solid backhand. "Shut up! It's me, the man who you drove here for," he growled.

The driver, with puffy cheeks, whimpered, "Y-you are?."

Wrong answer. The driver cried when he felt a fistful of his hair being snagged and pulled towards Diavolo. He then ended up with a broken bloody nose when his face got slugged.

"Oi, _mammoni_ , are you that drunk that you fail to distinguish fantasy from reality?" Diavolo asked, one hand grabbing the driver by his collar, the other lightly slapping his face. "Of course it is me! How can it not be me?"

"I-I dunno, man! The guy I drove here had pink hair, not green!"

With an irritated sigh, he let him go with an unceremonious plop and checked his face on the van's side-view mirror. He knew that drunkenness led to a reduced ability to perceive among other things but this was just ridiculous.

What stared back at him was this bizarre amalgamation of himself and Izuku. Long green hair, semi-fractured irises with a boyish face, he looked like any other school kid. He reeled back. _W-what's this?! When did this happen?_

 ** _'You have reigned over this body long enough, criminal.'_**

"Who said that?" he shouted, heartbeat rising when he heard the voice. Was the brat awake? It sounded like him yet it doesn't. It sounded male yet also female; tangible yet intangible.

 ** _'That is none of your concern, Diavolo. We have always been here since the torch was passed down.'_**

"Cut the crap. What did you do?" he snapped. He activated King Crimson and entered the world of erased time, scrutinising everything and everyone's actions that he could see for the next ten seconds. Aside from the idiotic driver, no one else appeared to be doing anything suspicious.

 ** _'Strange. He seems to be a part of the boy yet isn't. Could he be the latent Quirk potential We felt?'_**

Beads of sweat ran down his face, his eyes darting around. What was this voice? Was it really inside his head? A telepathic Quirk user? If it was inside his head, it should just the brat and brat alone. It is wasn't him, then it must be someone else. But, only he can move around in the erased time as the rest were sleeping slaves to their fates. Unless…

 _Giorno! Even after a hundred years have passed, are you still tormenting me with that blasted Requiem?!_

Time pieced itself back together, the passers-by none the wiser. He turned to the driver and lifted him back on his feet.

"L-look, man, please don't hurt me anymore."

"Get in the van."

"W-whuh—"

"I said get in the _fucking_ van!" he barked as he shoved the driver before getting in himself. He grew even more agitated and nervous as the driver fumbled around his keys and took forever to get the engine running.

"Now what?"

"Drive."

"But where?"

"Back to your dead friends."

"B-but, I'm still kinda drunk. Can't this wait a bit longer?"

Oh, he wanted to kill this idiot. He really wanted to kill this idiot but for some reason, something was holding him back from just outright snapping his neck. Instead, he placed a firm hand on the back of his neck and squeezed.

"Boy, what's your name?"

The driver sputtered a bit. He wanted to point out how weird it was for a kid to be calling him that but he'd rather not have his mouth be the end of him. "Uh… It's Takumi. Why?"

"Listen, Takumi, there are only two ways you are going to die tonight. Either you die driving us there or you die right here, right now, as you hear your neck slowly crack and crumple. What do you say?"

With shaking hands on the wheel, Takumi sped off into the night with tear-stained cheeks.

Diavolo, too, was shaking. As he kept watch on the rear-view mirror, he could see his body slowly reverting back to that of the brat's. Was he losing control over this body? Was this entire experience he had just a prolonged death cycle?

After a few minutes of watching street lamps whizz by, Diavolo decided that this was not another death cycle. As much as he knew Giorno hated his guts, even he wouldn't have him die in this manner.

Maybe.

What the hell did he do to piss off the boy in the first place? No, scratch that. What the hell did he do to piss off _Bucciarati_? His life from the point of Bucciarati's betrayal onwards went downhill from there.

Did he kill his dad? No, if anything it was Passione that gave him the means to support his father till his dying breath. He should know because Polpo, the _capo_ that took Bucciarati in, was rather fond of his naïve sense of strict honour and duty.

Then, Diavolo remembered how distraught Bucciarati was when he took Trish away from him.

* * *

 _"You must pay! You have betrayed my heart once again!"_

 _Bucciarati's anguished cry echoed in the elevator shaft. He had to raise a brow. 'Again'? Bucciarati's outburst was well within his calculations since his profile on his character indicated that he will react like that. Still, to insinuate the he, Diavolo, has wronged him in any way prior to this baffled him._

 _What did he do? Perhaps one of the men in the Assassination Team convinced him that Passione was responsible for an incident that has wronged him? Once this blows over, he will ensure that Bucciarati and his fellows will be rewarded greatly. It was thanks to them that he can erase all traces of himself and keep his organisation secure. This should help smooth things over with him. While he did create the organisation in such a way that it fostered competition between the different branches, it did no good to go out of his way to foster animosity with one that has been proven worthy._

 _As he got slipped through the elevator doors that he prepared prior, he heard Bucciarati's [ **STICKY FINGERS** ] open up the elevator that he extracted Trish from. Diavolo sighed. _

_He hoped Bucciarati would do the smarter thing and leave him be._

* * *

 _I wonder if the outcome could have been different if I handled the situation better? Perhaps I should have waited for him to come up to the top floor and instruct him to see her off then while I hide somewhere. That way… oh. Mio Dio. Are you absolutely f-!_

"So, uhm, how old are you?"

"What?" Diavolo snapped.

"Hiee! I'm sorry!"

He clicked his tongue, scowling as he glanced outside. Noticing that the apartment that Midoriya lived in was well in view and that there was a distinct lack of engine rumbling, he turned to Takumi.

"Oi. What is this?"

"Oh, this? We've arrived at the destination for a few minutes already, Boss, I mean, sir, uh…"

"…and?"

Takumi scratched his cheek and said, "Well, you seemed to be staring off into space making weird faces the whole way. Then, you didn't seem to notice we arrived so I wanted to tell you but I didn't know how so I decided to try make some small talk, you know?"

Diavolo's face appeared to tense up before he let out a sigh.

"You know what, just for tonight, you can call me Boss," he declared with a small smile as he hopped out of the van. "Come on, those bodies aren't going to clean themselves."

"Y-yes, Boss!" Takumi answered with a clumsy grin.

An unexplainable feeling made Diavolo's chest feel tight hearing the youngster call him that title. It was a nice warm feeling that reminded him of the only person who trusted him without question.

Doppio.

"You say something?"

Diavolo clammed up and marched off to the apartments. "You're hearing things. Come on, let's go."

 _Damn it. Being with Izuku for a long time is making me soft._

He glanced at Takumi, who was rummaging the back of his van for the needed equipment for body disposal. He noticed him shivering and trembling by the knees.

Diavolo shut his eyes. _Nevertheless, once I get him to transport the bodies to a pier, I'll make sure he'll join his comrades. That's the least I could do to make him forget this night ever happened.  
_

* * *

 _ **A/N: Hey there, KobeNiku here. I am terribly sorry for the ludicrously long break in uploads since yours truly has been busy with university and maybe slightly a hint of a tinge of procrastination sprinkled here and there. That and it took a long time to think about the direction I want to take this story. I want to be sure that this is a path that I want to see the plot going before continuing.  
**_

 _ **Also, I'm looking for a beta! Well, if anyone's willing that is. While I am confident in my proof-reading abilities, I realise all too well that I am not infallible. That being said, this offer is open to my other story, The Data Collector so if you're interested in both, hit me up in the PMs!**_

 _ **Speaking of interests, which do you guys prefer? Long chapters (3k words and beyond) or short chapters (2.5k and below)? I know, can of worms but I feel like it's nice to know what your preferences are so I can try and suit them the best I can. Oh, and would you rather have this story be put in the crossover section or remain here? Only reason I put it here is because I think that the crossover section tends to focus more on the Jojo than the MHA but I could be wrong.**_

 _ **Anyways, have a nice day!**_


	15. Catalyst (Part Three)

Detective Yukimura didn't know what to think of this. How was this possible? They had been looking into the illegal money laundering ring ran by Yuuichi Ou, who was better known by his moniker, "Albert King". He was a slippery fellow. He was adept at jumping through any legal loopholes he could find to make his victim's contracts difficult to sue. Those that they did manage to charge for, he paid.

In cash.

He still remembered the irritation it caused. God, he wanted to punch that pig's face in when he walked out of the courthouse with that damned smirk of his. All the families he's ruined, all the people that he's left to rot and cower in fear. Yet, Detective Yukimura was powerless to do so. Three months of collecting leads smashed into dust as the hammer struck, its faint echo reverberating in his memories despite the anguished cries of the relatives drowning it out. Those watching from their hospital beds. Those that ceased to exist. It was supposed to be the decisive strike that ended the reign of Albert King's small ring but it failed nonetheless.

Three years passed since that shameful defeat. He supposed he should be elated by this unexpected turn of events that presented itself before him. Lined up in front of the building that acted as Albert's headquarters of his operation was every person that was unfortunate enough to be working last night. Bodyguards, pencil-pushers, cleaners—all were slaughtered with no remorse. This had to be the work of an entire squad of professional hitmen or one really skilled killer because the erratic blood spatters everywhere and the pieces of broken pens and scissors sticking out of some of the corpses told his weary eyes that the suspect(s) used anything that was available to them. The autopsy report that came in later only confirmed his suspicions.

All killed in a span of less than five minutes.

 _Five!_

What monsters! More than twenty people were in that building!

Lastly, the most telling piece of evidence that solidified his suspicion was the body of the snake that slid through his fingers time and time again—Albert King. The way Detective Yukimura saw it, there was no mistaking it. This was an execution from a powerful gang. The pig of a man, who looked about as good as his blackened heart, strung up to the wall of his lavish office with electrical wire mimicking a sick version of a crucifixion. Speaking of his heart, it was gone. The veteran detective had seen many grisly scenes that would make a greenhorn resign on the spot but this might just get him to listen to the nagging voice in his head telling him to retire already.

He knew Yuuichi Ou was a heartless man but never in his entire lifetime did he ever wish for it to be this literal. With jagged chunks of rib and spine sticking out, a huge gaping hole occupied where a good two-thirds of his lungs and his heart should have been. The detective uttered half a curse and half a prayer. While he was not what people his age call, a 'man of the cloth', he subscribed to a belief in a deity of sorts. Now? He was certain that there was a deity and said deity worked in mysterious ways. Only a being so detached from humanity could ever interpret his prayers for 'putting the bastard away for good' like…

He looked at the twisted display again.

Yeah. Like that. By the heavens, he could use a smoke right now. Preservation of the crime scene be damned. A weary sigh escaped his lips. He attempted to go outside and have a drag or two.

Attempted. Perhaps the shock from seeing the gruesome state of his nemesis had shut down his motor functions without him realising. That, or fifteen years of smoking and drinking finally caught up to him because whatever the reason may be, he could not move.

His feet, planted. His body would not listen to his brain demanding that it move. Even his neck stiffened as though it were steel, leaving only his eyes to move about. Only the sensation of blood flowing through his veins and the irregular huffs of hot wind through his nostrils told him that he was still alive.

Then, slow thumps approached him from behind. The steady rhythm of steel-toe on wood adding more tension to his racing heart. Beads of sweat rolled down his bushy brows, reducing his already obscured vision from them. Could this be it for him? The murderer returning to the scene of his crime to eliminate a pesky old man?

"Detective?"

The old detective leapt with a height that was impressive for a man his age and spun round. Using his Quirk, Sense Intent, he determined that the female officer behind him was the real deal. With a sigh, he said, "My word! You shouldn't sneak up on an old man, you know? I'd land you a manslaughter charge from beyond the grave!"

The female officer—a red-head, he noted—gave a shy chuckle and bowed. "I'm terribly sorry, Detective. I was going to inform you that they're calling it a day," she said.

Detective Yukimura raised a bushy brow. It was that late already? He checked his watch. It was late already. Recalling his sudden immobility earlier, anxiety erased his earlier relief.

"Fair enough," he informed her, the authority in his tone barely masking his shakiness. "Lead the way, I'll be right behind you."

With great difficulty he willed his wobbling knees onward to lead him out of the wretched crime scene. He supposed one more cigarette wouldn't hurt before quitting. He fingered the outline of his cigarette pack in his shirt pocket only to freeze. No, he shouldn't. Sudden paralysis was not worth another puff of his favourite brand of smokes.

The red-headed policewoman escorting him, he noticed, was probably quaking as bad as he was. He had to give it to her, for a rookie—he assumed she was—she hid her fear well. The only clue of her fright being her shaking fingers. Ah, he remembered when he was that green.

Unbeknownst to him, what caused the policewoman's shakiness was not fear but anger. Anger at the perpetrator of this heinous massacre. Anger at herself for her failure in finding him sooner.

The Devil had made his move. If the incident at U.A High was anything to go by, it had to be one of the students but who? It was a surreal and terrifying experience, the ability that she'd heard about countless times. Hearing about it undersold its terror by a long shot. One moment she was sauntering out of the principal's office, with the confirmation of the Devil's existence. The next moment, she caught herself about to trip over her own foot.

Whilst already halfway down the staircase.

Sure, she had her bouts of clumsiness from time to time. It was not her fault that the good Lord decided to give her mind the ability to wander about whenever. She did bump into that overly apologetic kid, after all. Something felt off about him but slamming into a person with enough force to knock the wind out of you often did that.

However, if it was that kid, then…

She clenched her fists tight. No, she must not let emotions cloud her. The annual U.A Sports Festival would begin in a matter of days. Her chance would be there.

Still, immense guilt weighed her chest down. It was a student. A child. For it was worth, what the Family will do to them would have been for the greater good. For the greater good. Yes, for the greater good. For the greater good.

The shaking in her fingers stopped.

She took in a deep breath and sighed, mustering her resolve. A single failure was but a small pebble on the path to success. Child or not, they were still sleeping slaves to the puppet master. A puppet master that set into motion the very birth of the Age of Quirks by virtue of his selfishness.

No matter. When the day of the Sports Festival comes, she would be waiting, and she would not be alone.

Diavolo must never escape again.

* * *

He did it! He got away with murder scot-free! Take that, Giorno Giovanna! Screw your absolute truth! You and your merry band of piss stains can go rot away in hell! As long as Fate still smiled upon him, not even your Requiem could stop him forever!

 _'Diavolo, can you tone it down? My head hurts enough as is.'_

Ah, right. In his excitement, he, Diavolo, forgot that he was still a soul conjoined with that of a fifteen-year old brat. Said brat was also currently struggling to focus in class as their Math teacher droned on about calculus. To be fair to the teacher, it wasn't as though they were fully to blame for the brat's lack of focus. Indeed, for one burdened with the task of imparting such dry yet essential knowledge, this was the expected result. However, the headaches that have been plaguing the brat since this morning were the true culprit.

The headaches were an unfortunate side effect of him suppressing the brat's memories. Unlike with his previous host, Doppio, he made sure to keep his tampering to a minimum to avoid arousing the brat's suspicions. The brat, Izuku Midoriya, he had to admit possessed an introspective and analytical mind that would have made him an attractive candidate to bring into his gang. Combined with that fiery determination of his, he was sure that the brat would pass the test of the Arrow.

But, that same introspection also meant that he required extra precaution to avoid squandering this reward Fate has bestowed upon him. A single misstep and he might lose the brat's trust. Using Epitaph was not an option when the brat has proven to have control over King Crimson—an annoying fact but just another burden of the fickle mistress that gave him his throne.

Fate was kind enough to grant him a moment of full autonomy when those fools broke into his home. Fate was kind enough to even grant him a chance at living once more. He could not risk wasting Fate's kindness on these pesky resurging memories of his acts of self-defence.

Yes, they were done in self-defence. If he didn't eliminate the loan shark's headquarters, more trouble would befall the Midoriya household. As a firm believer in achieving optimal results, this was the best course of action. Simply put, there wouldn't be a problem with retaliation if there was no one left to send. It was not as though he liked the Midoriya family or anything.

Basic dignity dictated that one provides protection to the patron saint of good food, after all. Helping said saint's child on the right path to success was merely a form of payment.

Still, looking at this morning's newspaper headline through the brat's eyes, how couldn't he be excited? Not only did the police fail to find anything linking back to him, they also made no mention about the pier! The gnats from the pitiful League had better be thankful that he wanted to remain low-profile or else the Hero community would be rid of two morons resembling the title of 'villain'.

He'd pat himself on the back if he had control over the brat's body again. Things were looking great so far, as Fate intended. She challenged him with having some thugs break into his home and his success in handling it granted him his continued non-existence. It would have been preferable if he had continue possessing the brat at will but that would make him seem like a pathetic beggar demanding for a dollar when given a quarter.

Diavolo was no beggar.

Diavolo _is_ no beggar, for kings never beg.

However, the mere fact that Izuku had these memories of the massacre at all was disturbing. Under normal circumstances, anyone under his complete control should have zero awareness. Yet, here he was suppressing these memories as they threatened to surface. Hence, the headaches because forceful suppression of the mind tended to do that.

It wasn't as though this was his first time tampering with the brat's memories. He had done it before, and he could do it again. He would protect his second chance at living no matter the cost.

It wasn't like it was going to affect the brat any further than that, won't it?

* * *

 _ **A/N: Hey there, everyone! KobeNiku here. First off, do apologise this pitiful excuse of a human being for posting so infrequently. I have under-estimated how busy I'd be once I reached home. Running around getting my visa done, siblings getting sick, getting surgery to prevent a dental disaster among other things, life seems to love going against what I set out to do. Kind of like planning to wash your car in the evening only for it to rain. Regardless, I am honored to have your support this whole time.**_

 _ **Seriously, 600 followers and 502 favorites. You people are mad. I don't deserve any of it.**_

 ** _Thank you so much for sticking around. Now that I have a beta, here's to hoping something resembling consistency comes around!_**

 **A word from our Beta**

 **Hey y'all! I'm Macdellion, or Mac for short. I'm KobeNiku's new beta! Basically, I responded to his last A/N and he took me on, so we've been throwing around ideas and this is what we got! Stay tuned, cause it's gonna get wild.**


	16. Prelude to the Festival

The U.A Sports Festival, an annual sports event that has replaced the Olympics in spectacle and grandeur in the hearts and minds of the Japanese people. The day before festival saw the air abuzz with youthful excitement as student and teacher alike prepared for the festival. Expectations were sky high as Pro-Heroes from across the nation would be present to scout out the students as prospective interns at their respective agencies. Fame, wealth, prestige, regardless of the students' goals in their pursuit of professional heroics, the Sports Festival was their time to shine.

The same applied to the students of Class 1-A who were chatting up a storm amongst themselves, much to Aizawa's annoyance.

"Quiet down, you lot!" he ordered through his bandages, "It's way too early in the morning for this."

"But sensei, isn't it nearly lunch break?" asked Kaminari. The rest of the class nodded in agreement. It was fifteen minutes till the lunch bell rang.

"Exactly. Too early." Aizawa ran his hand through his hair. "Look, not to rain on your parade here but I expect all of you to perform at your best tomorrow. Don't let the villain assault on the USJ get your head swimming in silly ideas like pride and arrogance. Pride cometh before the fall so keep on your toes." As he said that, he leered towards a certain arrogant blonde.

No hard feelings existed between him and Katsuki Bakugou but never let it be said that Aizawa was anything but perceptive. He observed how he interacted with his peers, how he acted, how he spoke. So far, he gathered that the young man had quite a few complexes of his own. It made sense considering that most children with Quirks equal to his would have spent their whole lives being praised for their Quirk and nothing but their Quirk. Coming to UA usually gave kids like those a bitter dose of reality when they meet others that surpass them by miles. With Todoroki and Yaoyorozu Momo present along with that trouble child, Izuku's victory over him in the Battle Training trial, he knew Bakugou had swallowed quite the pill.

Glimpses of that arrogance still flared within those eyes of his—quite the glare—but Aizawa could tell that Bakugou's focus would be to improve himself to reach the top. He had the drive and the fire, that Aizawa knew. But seeing how he acted around the class president, along with his attainment of a second Quirk, he hoped that the wayward kid set his sights in the right direction. After all, there was no point in losing sight of the journey for the goal.

Speaking of losing sight…

 _Two weeks earlier_

 _Aizawa hurried off to the conference room after the students have been escorted out of the school. It annoyed him that he had to put off that talk he planned to give Izuku but this took precedence. A villain had broken into UA again, this time threatening the life of Principal Nedzu. Ridiculous didn't even begin to describe what was happening. No sign of intrusion, no scuffle, no cracks, no tracks, not even a sound but the siren still rang, and armoured vehicles brought the students home early._

 _For it to get this bad, the villain must have been highly dangerous. Cold jitters spread from his gut. As he marched into the conference room, he hoped that he could walk away trusting everyone present._

 _Despite the school's budget might imply—with giant state-of-the-art robots and entire city block-sized training grounds—the actual rooms used by student and staff were rather average. As average as expensive prestigious schools got, anyhow. The conference room where this emergency meeting of utmost importance was being held was no different. Plain white walls, a table and a set of chairs along with an interactive projector screen, one would be forgiven in mistaking such a room for a barebones office._

 _Yet, it was in this barebones office where figures of the highest order sat down. Aizawa knew this. It was no secret that Principal Nedzu kept an inner circle comprising of staff. Here in this room was the inner circle within the inner circle. Positioned in their humble chairs were Toshinori, Principal Nedzu, Detective Naomasa, Shuuzenji Chiyo and the Deputy Minister of Heroic Security, Higashikata Josuke. Not to be confused with the Ministry of Heroics._

 _"What happened?" asked Aizawa._

 _The people in the room all turned to address the bandaged hero. "Ah, you came in right on time, Aizawa," said Principal Nedzu, a cup of green tea in his hand. "We were just about to get to the meat and bones of the situation." He then motioned for Aizawa to have a seat._

 _Toshinori, better known to many in his muscular form as All Might, grimaced at his lack of greeting towards the VIP._ 'Straight to the point as always…' _was what his idealistic colleague probably thought. Still, if the deputy minister felt slighted, he did a great job at hiding it as he gave him a small nod of acknowledgement._

 _With a clap, the principal declared, "Alright, let's recap what we have on the table so far now that everyone's here."_

 _Detective Naomasa took this as his cue to take over as he stood up. "Right. Following the incident at the USJ and the recent infiltration that happened today, we have gathered several pieces of key evidence. Firstly, from the successful and subsequent failure of the apprehension of the leader of the League of Villains, we have confirmed that All for One is still at large—" "Failure?! What do you mean?" Toshinori cut in._

 _"A break-out occurred at the penitentiary where he was being temporarily held this morning," said the detective. "I'm sorry, Toshinori. I wish I could have informed you sooner."_

 _"It's fine," said Toshinori, "I'm sorry for cutting you off. Carry on." There went that plan to clear things up with his late mentor's grandchild…_

 _With a nod, Detective Naomasa continued. "As I was saying, All for One is still at large. Through Shigaraki's arrest, we can now confirm that the League is a front to his ulterior motives. What those motives might be are yet to be determined but security will be increased to ensure the safety of the students."_

 _'So far, still reasonable,' thought Aizawa. That explained the presence of armoured police vehicles—something that he'd see more of as the festival starts—but that didn't explain the required presence of an actual minister. Deputy or no, it was exceedingly rare that the government got involved in heroics outside of legislation. A loud creak screeched in his ears. Never mind then, he was going to have an answer._

 _Standing tall with an air of natural pride, Deputy Minister Josuke Higashikata thanked the detective for saying his piece. "Good evening, everyone," he greeted the room while fixing his pompadour. "As I'm sure people in your line of work are familiar, I deal with Heroics-related security issues. Well, my boss does that but that's beside the point."_

 _A good chuckle or two made its way around the table. Aizawa didn't. So what if the guy had a sense of humour? Just get to the point._

 _"Regardless of what my duties are," the minister resumed after clearing his throat, "Principal Nedzu has contacted us on something prior to today's incident. While meeting with him was part of the agenda, this infiltration provided a neat little opportunity to be blunt about it."_

 _However, before he went on, he glared at everyone in the room. "How many people in this room know of the ' **second Quirk** ' case?" _

_Aizawa perked up at this, nodding in agreement._

 _"Good. If anyone said anything other than ' **second Quirk** ' or ' **unidentified Quirk** ', I would have had to kill them on the spot." _

_._

 _._

 _._

 _"What? There are people in this world that can shape-shift. I'm not taking any chances." Nedzu had a good laugh at that._

 _"Get on with it," Aizawa grumbled._

 _"Okay, okay" said the minister, his hands up in exasperation. "This **second Quirk** that belongs to one of the students in UA is known as a **Stand** , as I'm sure Nedzu and Toshinori can testify. While pre-Quirk superpowers existed, **Stands** can be considered the true progenitors to the Quirks that we know today." As if to prove his point, a ghostly arm engulfed his own, eliciting a gasp from Toshinori. Aizawa watched with curiosity and unease. _

_"People with **Stands** , such as myself, are few and far between. This is a fact that has remained unchanged since time immemorial. However, according to the testaments of the late Jean Pierre Polnareff, these **Stands** originated from a virus found on a meteorite that crashed over a hundred thousand years ago. In a twisted form of viral evolution, it weeds out the weak by killing them off and empowers the strong by granting them powers. Real supernatural powers._

 _"Of course, when the chances of a host surviving are slim, propagation would be difficult. It is theorised that the virus evolved into a weaker strain of itself to increase its host's chances of survival. The infected will live though their powers would never be as suited to them as **Stands."**_

 _It was a lot for the participants to digest. Even Nedzu, Aizawa noted, appeared to be having difficulty taking it in. He didn't blame him. All at once, the answers Aizawa hoped for came through but they came with even more questions. Izuku possessed a **Stand** , he knew that much now, but why hasn't there been a case of a student **Stand** user throughout the school's entire existence? Were all **Stands** as powerful as Izuku's? Are Quirks literally just weaker **Stands**? Where were all the users hiding?_

 _To his dismay, time was up. The Deputy Minister had to return to his office. However, before he left, he mentioned one tiny detail. So tiny, it might even be insignificant at first…_

"Ah, I almost forgot," said Aizawa just as he finished putting his books in a stack, "due to the recent break-in a few weeks ago, UA has decided to call in some additional security from the Ministry. This means that some of your watchers might land you an internship with the government as the Deputy Minister himself is said to be attending."

"A break-in?!" said Mineta, "The reason we were escorted out of the school early was because of a _break-in?!_ " His face appeared to turn pale.

"You mean, you didn't hear?" Kirishima asked, "I thought the PA system made it loud and clear that day that someone broke in. Man, these villains sure have it out for our school, eh?" He then pumped his fist with a toothy grin. "Never mind that! The government's going to be watching us too!"

"Don't they do that already?" Tsuyu chimed in. "And isn't having our school broken in twice in a row pretty disturbing?"

"Yeah but the Deputy Minister of Heroics will be coming too!" Kirishima replied before caressing his hair. "I mean, have you seen the hair on that guy? He looks so manly and cool! I've already gotten my sights on working under Red Riot's agency though working for the Ministry wouldn't sound like a bad idea!"

His fellow classmates grimaced with some letting out pity chuckles. There was nothing wrong with working for the government, they all agreed to that. Heck, some might even be more enthused about it than Kirishima. But while the Deputy Minister of Heroics was many things, 'cool hairstyle' was not one of them.

Aoyama simply flicked his golden bangs aside. " _Hon hon!_ How simple, as befitting your personality and Quirk. As for _moi,_ I am confident that my sparkling, shining beam will attract the finest of internships!"

The whole class shared a good laugh.

"What? I am serious."

"Yeah, you sure are, buddy," said Kaminari with a snicker, "You sure are."

The carefree atmosphere was something that class president Izuku Midoriya appreciated. However, he noticed that a few people in particular did not share the same sentiment. From his seat, he noted that Kacchan, Todoroki and Uraraka looked anything but happy. For Kacchan, he had known him long enough to tell that the creases on his childhood friend's forehead indicated his ultimate desire to be No.1. He could not get a good read on Todoroki since he never got to speak with him much and he never said much to begin with. Uraraka, on the other hand, made him worry.

Normally, the bubbly girl would have been to first to chime in, maybe add a blunt remark or two to either Kirshima or Aoyama with a carefree laugh. Instead, she sat still in her seat, her gaze sharp yet looking off into a place no one could see. Come to think of it, he hadn't seen much of her at all for the past week or so. He frowned.

Something must have happened sometime after he met Uraraka by the beach that day. He knew he felt something was amiss when he came across her after his morning jog. He might be overthinking this—she could just be looking for a change of pace in her training—but it was weird to meet her there on a weekend when she had never done so before. He should know, he made it a point to jog there every morning to build up his stamina.

However, try as he might, he could not recall anything else from that day. He remembered his usual workout routine, his successful test of One for All and that embarrassing breakfast with Uraraka but nothing else past dinner. He supposed he went to bed after dinner, but it didn't feel right. Something was amiss and he couldn't put a finger on it.

He shook his head. He could figure that out later. Now, he had a duty as the president of class 1-A and as a friend to ask if Uraraka was alright. Once the lunch bell rang, he made his move. Weaving past the throngs of students in the hallway, he reached out for her shoulder.

"Uraraka!" he called out. The sudden jolt from her did not escape him.

"D-Deku! You scared me!" said Uraraka as she turned to meet him. She avoided his emerald gaze and fidgeted. "Is there something you needed?"

"Are you okay?" he asked.

With a smile, she replied, "I'm not sure what you mean, Deku. Of course, I'm fine!" The tug Izuku felt from his grip told him otherwise.

"Are you sure? You've been looking quite down earlier, and I haven't really seen you in class this past week." The tugging pulled stronger but Izuku's hand would not budge.

"Please," he begged, meeting her auburn gaze head on, "Let me help you."

Uraraka flinched, her smile wavering. The shock in her eyes told a tale. What that tale was, he could not know but she was reminded of it.

"Deku, I—" "Please tell me. I might not know nor claim to understand what happened, but I want to be there for you, just as you have been there for me," he cut her off, a small smile accompanying his worry.

Her breath hitched at this, her cheeks flush with pink. "W-well, I, uh, I, you see—"

"Izuku, Uraraka!" greeted Iida from behind, "I was just looking for you two! Would you care to join me for—oh."

The two friends in question spun round at breakneck speeds, their heads redder than tomatoes. None of them spoke a word as they let their collective awkwardness fill in the blanks.

"W-wait!" blurted Izuku. "It's not what it looks like!"

"Y-yeah!" Uraraka chimed in. "W-w-we were just having a discussion!"

"A totally normal discussion!"

"Hm, hm!" nodded Uraraka.

Iida, who by then remained stiff in mid-wave, straightened his back and pushed his glasses up. "I see. I apologise for having interrupted this innocent, benign discussion you were having. Please, don't mind me. I will be on my way now."

"We told you that it's not what it looks like!" they pleaded in unison. Iida simply stared at the hand on Uraraka's shoulder.

"Hey there, young Midoriya!" boomed All Might, a small lunchbox wrapped in flowery cloth in hand as he peeked around the corner. "Want to join me for lunch—oh…"

Izuku's hand was _still_ on Uraraka's shoulder. Why did he keep holding on?

No tears rolled down his cheeks but Izuku was crying. Uraraka hid her face in her palms and Iida just stayed there with a blank expression.

He didn't know which was worse: Embarassing himself in front of his friends and his mentor or the fact that Diavolo's wheezing and guffaws denied him the solitude of retreating into his mind.

 **xxx**

After a solid few minutes of trying and failing to convince All Might and Iida that they were having a lover's quarrel, Izuku and Uraraka finally got to have lunch together. Setting their respective meals down on the table, they slumped into their seats with a tired sigh.

"We're going to have to live with this, aren't we?" Uraraka whined.

"Stop, I don't want to think about it…" replied Izuku, massaging his forehead.

 _But you already are, though._

 _'Shut up, Diavolo. Not now.'_

 _I don't hear a denial._

With a groan, he sipped his green tea. Uraraka giggled a bit at this.

"What's so funny?" he asked.

"Your Quirk's tiny face is on your forehead," she replied between giggles. "It looks like its laughing at you."

 _'Ha. Ha. Very funny, Diavolo.'_ "Oh? I guess even **King Crimson** thinks this whole thing is silly," he replied with a sheepish grin.

 _You mean, it isn't?_

He ignored the don in his head for the tiny giggles his friend was making. He could not help smiling as she looked happier now than she was earlier. It helped that her laughter sounded pleasant to listen to.

"So, Deku," she began after her giggling stopped, her cheeks turning a shade of pink but her smile fading. "Did you really mean what you said? That you want to be with me?"

"W-well, in that I'd be there in your time of need, yes," Izuku replied after clearing his throat, his face redder.

"O-of course! That's exactly you meant!" she replied, her cheeks glowing pinker as she flailed her hands around. "Anyway, I suppose I should tell you. It's only right that I do so since it was my fault that it happened."

Any feelings of embarrassment got washed out by concern within Izuku. "What do you mean?"

Taking in a huge gulp of her lemon tea, she spilled her heart out. She told him about her parents' financial troubles and her motivations to be a hero, how they got harassed by loan sharks to pay up and her own troubles by their hand. Finally, she told him about that day. How she went to the beach near Dagobah to get away from the loan sharks, how she later got kidnapped by them for ransom only to break into his home the same night.

Izuku listened on, his brows creasing. His fists clenched tight. Anger boiled within him. Anger at the loan sharks for their deeds. Anger at himself for not noticing sooner. It was a burning rage that felt alien to him but for the first time, he embraced it. Whoever harmed her would pay.

There was one missing detail, however.

"How did you get away?" he asked, his mask of concern hiding his fury.

Uraraka avoided his gaze and squirmed in her seat. "It's… hard to explain. It almost sounds **bizarre** when I repeat it aloud. You see, after they beat me and were about to force me watch them do… _unspeakable_ things to your mother, you disappeared."

"What?" he blurted, his anger turning into fear. Please don't let this go where he thought it went.

"You did! And then a man with **pink** hair showed up and killed all but one of the loan sharks," she explained. "He was a scary man with terrifying brutality. He stomped one of the men's head into a pulp." She shuddered just thinking about it. "But I know deep down inside that he was a good man."

Izuku, who kept quiet this whole time, asked, "W-what do you mean by that?"

A wistful smile formed on her lips, almost as though recalling a fond memory. "He had your eyes. I don't know how to say this better but only good people smiled like you. If… if I had a chance to meet him again, I want to thank him from the bottom of my heart," she said. "Thanks to him, my family and I were able to live free from the fear of unexpected knocks on the door. It was thanks to him that I got to see my parents again. I took the week off to spend some time with them. I'm sorry if I made you worry, Izuku."

As she said this, she gently caressed Izuku's shaking hand. Her tender touch brought him out of his trance and the shivering stopped.

Her face felt several degrees warmer when he reciprocated by placing his hand atop hers.

"It's okay. I'm sorry that you went though that horrible time," he said. "I wish I could have done something sooner."

"Silly Deku," she assured him, "there was nothing you could have done about it. Besides, I should be thanking you for doing this. It feels so much better now."

"You do?

"Yeah! Come on, let's finish up here and head back to class. We don't want stupid rumours going around in class."

He looked at the time and panicked. "Oh crap! We only have ten more minutes!" he exclaimed and began wolfing down his large katsudon. Uraraka laughed before following suit with more finesse.

There were a lot of things that needed to be addressed. Izuku knew this, Diavolo knew this. He was going to have that talk, that much Izuku was certain. As each mouthful of rice and breaded chicken passed through his gullet, he fought down the urge to hurl as the implications of what Uraraka told him sank in. But seeing the smile on her face, and the smiles of everyone around him, he willed himself to soldier on. As class president, he must not show weakness. As her friend, he must show her that everything was alright. Why? Because he promised her that he would be there.

Because _he_ was there.

That talk with Diavolo was going to happen, he knew for certain. But for now, the festival came first. For the sake of his class and his mentor, victory must be attained above all else. Come hell or high water.

However, unbeknownst to him, that tiny detail Aizawa gleaned off of the Deputy Minister would come into effect sooner than any of them might have hoped.

Birds of a feather flock together, no matter how far.

* * *

 ** _A/N: Hey there, KobeNiku here! First off, I do apologise if this chapter seems a bit filler-ish because I just wanted to write something before getting into the Sports Festival. Secondly, wow, you people are Koichis, you know that? Absolute mad lads, the lot of you. Seriously, top ten in regular JJBA crossovers? For follows and favorites? You're mad and I am forever grateful. Thank you all so much for reading this story and for all the support. Since I now have an update schedule, next chapter drops the week after next. For those of you that read Data Collector, it's coming next weekend._**

 ** _Once again, thank you and have a nice day._**

 ** _Sincerely,  
_** ** _KobeNiku_**

 **A Word from Our Beta**

Hey y'all, Mac here. I just wanna thank all you Mad Lads for making us number six on Jojo crossover favs. SIX. Not just MHA/Jojo. All Jojo crossovers. Let's try for number one. Plus Ultra!

 **P.S: I'm sorry for the update. Had to fix some glaring issues and errors that some of you have thankfully pointed out along with addressing some formatting mishaps from the last quickfix done from my phone. Also added a little bit more towards the end because it didn't feel right ending it where it ended. Again, if it has inconvenienced you or seems disingenuous, I am sorry.**


End file.
